


Experimental Tsuna

by Wingzrooke



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Black Ops Projects, F/M, Fem!Tsuna, Gen, Human Experimentation, Medical Experimentation, Multi, Pre-Curse Arcobaleno!, Prisoners, Shady Goverment Organizations, Sky!Guardian Dino, Tsuna claims all the guardians, Unethical treatment of humans, Vongola is ignorant of what it's future heiress is doing..., Whips! and forks! used as weapons, no Beta we die like illiterates!, slave trading ring briefly mentioned
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:08:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 23,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24205672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wingzrooke/pseuds/Wingzrooke
Summary: Long before Reborn was supposed to come and tutor Fem!Tsuna into becoming a Mafia Boss, she is kidnapped at the age of twelve and sold to a bunch of shady goverment/military types who are trying to figure out flames and Skies by experimentation. Unfortunately they have very little idea what they're doing. They succeed in breaking the seal on Tsuna and activating her flames. They fail at realizing they had done so.Tsuna, who has no idea what was done to her, goes on to make friends with her awesome magic flame-powers, and tries to survive until someone figures out what is going on and rescues them, or they can escape.
Relationships: Arcobaleno/Sawada Tsunayoshi, Dino/Sawada Tsunayoshi, Gokudera Hayato/Sawada Tsunayoshi
Comments: 20
Kudos: 283





	1. Chapter 1 - The Intake/Outtake ward

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Welcome to my new story. This is a little different from what I usually do, as it isn't a cross-over. Fair warning. Wanted to give you some (very brief!) information that will help you to figure out what is going on.
> 
> 1\. this is Pre-Arcobaleno curse.  
> 2\. The curse will eventually happen, but will be a lot shorter than in cannon thanks to Tsuna. In this fic, Reborn is still going by Renato Sinclair at this point, is still an adult, and is currently halfway through tutoring Dino.
> 
> I think that's everything. Let me know if you have any questions after reading what I've posted so far. Thanks!

* * *

* * *

## Chapter 1

First to register was the quiet, then the sounds of lots of people breathing slowly. Next came the overpowering lights. Tsuna wakes slowly, feeling grogginess pulling at her mind. She sits up and notices there are five rows of hospital beds filled with children, and each row consists of four beds. A lot of the other children are asleep, and Tsuna figures they were all probably drugged. It’s around this time that Tsuna registers a dull throbbing ache in various parts of her body. She can’t even see all the parts that hurt, so she looks down to the handcuffed arm, since it’s right next to her. Two small incisions, one right after another, line the top of her forearm. For a moment, Tsuna doesn’t really understand what she’s seeing. The little incisions are sewn closed with stitches, but there’s no bandaging or any attempt at aftercare other than something that’d left a strange yellowish discoloration on the skin around the cut. When Tsuna gently touches the slowly inflaming place with her other hand, it both hurts and feels strange. She thinks maybe there is some sort of clear matte coating over the incision and stitches.

While Tsuna is inspecting her new additions, a door opens across the room. A man, dressed in red scrubs, stalked in. Right behind the man came two other men, though these two looked more like burly guards than anything else. The man in green scrubs pushed a metal cart that looked sort of like a table with wheels. On top of the table Tsuna could see all sorts of needles, syringes, long rubber tubing, scissors, and scalpels. Fear clawed through whatever drugs was making her thoughts all hazy, and she watched with sharp eyes as the scrub-wearing man approached the first child. This child, like all of them except Tsuna, was still fast asleep.

The man briskly took the arm which wasn’t chained down and one of the needles. He fiddled with the needle for a moment, and then injected something into the child’s arm. He then took the needle off the injector and loaded a new one. A small metallic ‘ping’ sounded each time the man injected whatever it was into various parts of the other child’s body. Tsuna cringed with each sound, some part of her desperately screaming in the back of her mind. Tsuna looked away, no longer able to watch, until the man and his …guards? … got to Tsuna.

“Awake, are you?” The man hummed dryly. “Well, we don’t have any authorization for more anesthesia, so you’ll just have to tolerate the pain.” He sighed before he proceeded to give Tsuna the same injections. The worst was two injections on either side of her spine, just where her skull and spine met. Finally, she thought the man might have finished with her, when he pulled a syringe out of his pocket. The Syringe was, quite frankly, monstrous in size. He pulled a sterile needle packet from his pocket as well, and Tsuna felt all color drain from her face. She felt like she might even pass out, just from the sight of the huge needle and syringe combo. The man ignored her, affixing the needle to the syringe, which was full of a bunch of ghastly luminous green viscous liquid.

“Pin her. We don’t want her to struggle and have to do this again.” The man sighed, and the two other men, dressed in simple black cargo pants and tight muscle shirts, stalked forward and forced Tsuna to the bed. Tsuna whimpered and squirmed against them, but was unable to do more than toss her head. The man with the needle leaned over her, pulled aside the surgical gown she was wearing, and stuck the needle down into her chest just over her heart. Screams tore themselves from her throat as she felt the injection. The liquid burned like lava as it entered her body, and she felt her body’s temperature skyrocket. No matter how she begged and pleaded, though, the man didn’t stop. After what seemed like an eternity, the man finally yanked the needle from her flesh. Tsuna was too far gone to care at that point, though.

The two helpers released Tsuna and moved on with the man in scrubs, leaving Tsuna to scream and writhe, clawing at her chest with the hand that could reach. Tsuna didn’t watch them with the other children, she was too busy trying to survive what had been done to her. At some point, Tsuna wasn’t sure how much later, the pain seemed to dampen somewhat, and she cautiously opened her eyes once more. This turned out to be a mistake, because she found that from head to toe she was covered in tri-colored fire. She screamed in horror, fearing she really would be burned alive. She soon realized that the fire wasn’t hurting her at all. In fact, it felt sort of soothing. She raised a hand into the air, almost mesmerized by the twisting and turning strands of ambery-orange, indigo, and purple fire. More time passed, and the fire gradually sunk into her skin and out of sight. As the fire left, Tsuna realized she no longer felt most of the pain anymore. There was a sort of ache, and a strange longing Tsuna couldn’t place, though.

_“Just what did they **do** to me?”_ She wondered. For a while, Tsuna just sat there. She didn’t really have much choice, there was nothing else to do and she was chained to the bed, after all. Eventually a few of the other children started to stir. Around the time another of the kids started to sit up, a boy Tsuna noted, the door at the end of the room opened up again. In flooded a wave of soldiers. Leading them was the man in scrubs and his two helpers. Some of the soldiers wore green camo pants and a simple green top, as well as a green camo jacket. The men in this attire spread out and lined the walls. The rest of the soldiers, it appeared there were about twenty of them, wore simple olive-green cargo pants and olive-green tank tops. Tsuna felt a little sick again, at the sight of this group of soldiers.

It was clear they’d been thoroughly starved, as they were skeletal in looks and some of them moved gingerly. They stayed in formation, in a shape like a square, lined up in five rows of four just like the hospital beds.

“My assistants will hand you each a key. This key will unlock the handcuffs on your assigned partners, over on the beds. Most of them are still unconscious and may need to be carried to your new bunks. Number 001143, step forward.” The man in scrubs instructed, and Tsuna felt that part of herself that just ‘knew’ things, perk up in interest as a man with purple hair and eyes stepped out of the front line of the formation and forward two paces. She couldn’t take her eyes off him, even to see what the man in scrubs was doing. 

“As the leader of this Squad, we have assigned you the most resilient of the children thus far. This is a gift, for your…good behavior.” The man in scrubs informed the purple-haired soldier. One of the scrubs man’s helpers moved over to the purple-haired man and handed him a key. “You may retrieve your new partner, number 001404. Assistant, please show 001143 to his new partner.” Scrubs man commanded, and the man who’d just given the purple-soldier the key grunted and jerked his head towards the bed. The soldier took the hint and followed about five paces behind the assistant as they headed right for Tsuna. Tsuna gulped when they got to her, edging away from the assistant as best she could, despite the handcuff. The ‘assistant’ snorted, but moved back so that the soldier could come forward. The soldier in question silently stalked forward towards the bed, and Tsuna looked up at him with large brown eyes.

Silently the purple hair and eyed soldier inserted the tiny key into the lock and twisted. The handcuffs opened with a near-silent click, and then fell off of her. Tsuna instinctively pulled her now-free wrist to her chest, rubbing it gently with her other hand.

“Going to walk, or need carrying?” The soldier asked gruffly. Tsuna flushed at the thought of being carried like a baby.

“I…I can walk.” Tsuna immediately answered, her internal warning system telling her that anything else was a bad idea. The feeling of danger didn’t come from the soldier, however. He radiated a sense of protection and safety to her. It was the assistants, the man in scrubs who might be a doctor or nurse, and the guards around the walls that made Tsuna wary. She even got the shivers from certain spots on the walls and ceilings which she thought might have hidden cameras.

Carefully Tsuna moved towards the edge of the bed, watching the assistant warily to make sure she was allowed. She’d learned on the way here to behave. Tsuna had no desire to suffer another cattle-prod electrocution and burn. The assistant looked amused, so Tsuna started to lean forward and brace herself to hop off the bed. To her surprise, the soldier gently reached up and lifted Tsuna to her feet.

“Ah, thank you.” Tsuna murmured quietly. The soldier nodded once and gently drew her to his side with one big hand until she stood beside him. He looked to the assistant silently.

“Back to formation.” The assistant ordered, and the soldier obligingly turned them both around. Swiftly he walked back to his formation, and Tsuna did her best to keep up. When he noticed she had difficulty matching his pace, the soldier warily slowed his pace, keeping wary eyes on the other soldiers and the scrubs man. No one commented, however, and they reached his place in line. The soldier maneuvered Tsuna until she stood directly in front of him, her back against his legs. Tsuna relaxed a little, having him at her back calmed some of her fears. At least no one would be able to attack her from there, even if all her other sides were open.

“Very well. My assistants will now hand out the rest of the keys, one at a time. You are to go retrieve the charge who matches your place in formation, excepting the one that 001143 just took. The solider who would have had that child will be assigned the child from 001143’s place in formation. As you saw, once you’ve retrieved your new charge, you will rejoin the formation and the next soldier will go until everyone has been matched up.” The man in scrubs announced. Tsuna did her best to stand still, despite her trembling knees and the fog of the drug trying to creep back in, now that she didn’t feel quite so afraid.

Finally everyone had been ‘matched up’. Every other set of partners stood like Tsuna and her purple-soldier, with the lines of soldiers moving slightly further apart to allow room for the children to stand in front of their assigned soldiers. Once they were all settled, the man in scrubs lead everyone back out the only door. Just on the other side of the door was a large wood-floored gymnasium. The room didn’t have any windows, and only two doors. One of the doors they’d just come through, and the other on the wall opposite. Currently the door was closed. The walls appeared to be solid white painted giant bricks, and the extremely high ceiling looked like it might be some sort of particle-board ceiling tile. The soldiers who didn’t look like starved prisoners-of-war lined the walls in this new room, and the ‘Squad’ moved to the center of the room, still in formation.

“I will now hand you back to your training sergeant, Sergeant Romano.” The man in scrubs called, before leaving the room altogether. A man Tsuna hadn’t noted before stepped forward in front of the group.

“Congratulations on making it this far, soldiers.” The man pronounced, as though giving them all a prize. “Unfortunately it looks like not all the littles are up yet, so you may have to relay any pertinent information and instructions to your assigned partner later if they’re still out.” The man added. “Now, some information about your new partnership. Littles, you pay attention because you’ll want to know this too.” The Sergeant ordered. Tsuna, despite herself, perked to attention at that. She didn’t want to miss information that might help keep her alive her just because the anesthesia needed more time to fully wear off.

“Each partnership is permanent except in the case of death. Both partners are responsible for the behavior of each other. If one partner misbehaves, acts out, or otherwise displeases Command, the other partner will be punished. If the little acts out, both parties will be punished.” Behind her, Tsuna felt her new ‘partner’ stiffen in anger, and Tsuna carefully reached back to take one of his hands in hers. The soldier she’d been assigned to relaxed slightly in posture, though Tsuna could feel…somehow…that he was still angry.

“Soldiers, you will be responsible for the care, feeding, hygiene, and exercise of your little. Any learning we feel necessary will be done while you are training. The littles will not be taking part in most training, instead they will be doing school modules, health checks, and so on. Each pair will share an assigned bunk in your new barracks. These bunks have been enlarged slightly to allow for two people to share. The pair of you are to keep things orderly, and each soldier will teach the children the appropriate techniques for making up the bed. Now you will move to your new barracks.” Romano barked. Silently everyone followed the Sergeant out the second doorway. To Tsuna’s surprise, they exited the gym into the outdoors. She looked around from the corners of her eyes while trying to keep up with the adults. Thankfully the entire squad had slowed down slightly to accommodate for smaller strides, so she didn’t have to worry about being run over.

They looked to be in some sort of yard that was surrounded by fencing, barbed wire, and guard towers. It looked to be late morning, so Tsuna couldn’t tell if there were spotlights, but her gut said there were. The ground was plain dirt, without any grass or cement to break it up. There were several buildings Tsuna didn’t know the purpose of, but they were all grey concrete things so there wasn’t much clue as to what they were for. Soldiers like the healthy-looking ones who’d guarded the walls filled the area around them. There were soldiers on the guard towers, soldiers marching around the perimeter (both inside and out), soldiers walking back and forth between buildings, and soldiers sitting in chairs all over the place! While Tsuna noted all these things, the Squad she had just become a part of was led to the other side of the yard, and into a large squat building. The sprawling building was huge.

The group was lead through a garage door-like entrance. Inside there were rows of bunks, each bunk three beds-high. Doing the math silently in her head, she realized there were two beds left-over. Which…seemed odd to her. One bunk, on the left side of the room was sunk into the wall, giving it five of the six sides made of concrete.

“Alright Squad, you have the rest of the morning to settle in and wait for your partner to wake up if they haven’t already. You will be fetched for lunch and taught the proper procedure then. Dismissed.” Sergeant Romano yelled, before he marched from the room. The group of soldiers and children broke up then, each pair going over to a bunk. Her purple soldier guided her to the bunk in the wall, and gently nudged her forward until Tsuna turned and sat on the bed. Just before their bunk was a closed door, and Tsuna noted there was another matching door on the other end of the same wall. Silently the soldier crouched down, moving to one knee, so he was eye-level with her.

“You did well. Name’s Skull de Mort. They call me 001143 here. I don’t know if you caught it, by you have been assigned number 001404. What is your name? How old are you?” Her purple soldier, Skull, rumbled gruffly. Stunned, Tsuna flushed. It had been a very long time since she’d been praised for anything. Usually people called her Dame-Tsuna.

“Tsuna, ah I mean Sawada Tsunayoshi. You can call me Tsuna…or 001404 if you have too, I guess. I’m twelve.” She answered shyly.

“Do you know where you are?” He questioned again in that gruff way of his. Tsuna shook her head ‘no’.

“Last time I knew where we were, the slave traders had us in Japan.” Tsuna admitted.

“Slave traders? And in Japan? I guess it’s lucky for you that you speak Italian. Or did they teach you this?” He wondered. Tsuna blushed.

“Ah, Mama taught me Italian. Papa was born and works in Italy, you see. So Mama made sure to learn and also to teach me. She was hoping we’d move there with to be with Papa someday.” Tsuna explained bashfully.

“Hmm. Well, you’re in Italy now, Tsuna.” He informed her gently. Tsuna blinked.

“Oh.” How was she supposed to respond to that?

“Do you need to use the restroom? Are you thirsty? Water’s about the only thing they don’t ration us on here. Mostly because they don’t ration the bathroom when we’re in the barracks.”

“I could use the bathroom.” Tsuna conceded, standing up. Skull gently guided her to the door beside their bed. Upon entering the next room, she saw that it was a mirror of the room with the bunks, except instead of bunks it had showers, toilets, and sinks. No cubicles or stalls, though.

“Sorry about the lack of privacy.” Skull grimaced, and Tsuna smiled up at him.

“It’s okay, I go to the shared baths back home a lot. Mama likes to socialize with everyone.” Tsuna explained. “Though we usually get to change in the women’s locker room. Is it just me, or is it weird that I’m the only girl in our whole Squad?” Tsuna wondered, and Skull frowned.

“I hadn’t noticed that. It is a bit strange that none of the other children are girls. Not so strange for the adults, though. They didn’t want any female soldiers.” While they were talking, Tsuna moved quickly to the toilets. Skull obligingly turned around and stood in front of her, blocking her from the view of anyone entering the room. Tsuna quickly finished up and Skull used a urinal while Tsuna washed her hands.

“Are we allowed to shower?” She wondered. Skull nodded.

“You can, but they haven’t given us any new clothes for you yet. They’ll probably do that later today, and expect you to shower then.” Skull warned. Tsuna shrugged, pulling the hospital gown away from herself and sniffing. She made a face. Pee-yew! Ugh.

“I’d rather have two showers. I stink. Haven’t had a bath or shower in like a week!” She complained. Skull shrugged.

“Suit yourself.” He agreed easily.

“Will you hold my gown?” She asked calmly. Skull nodded and she reached behind her head to undo the tie. Then she undid the two ties on the front that kept it closed. Bashfully she handed it to Skull, who was looking only at the doors. Tsuna slipped into the shower area and turned on one of the faucets. She yelped as the water rained down on her, it was cold!

“There isn’t any hot water.” Skull warned over his shoulder, still not looking at her.

“ _Now_ you tell me!” She retorted dryly. Quickly she got as wet as she could before testing the soap dispensers on the wall. One of them gave her liquid soap, the other shampoo. Tsuna quickly shampooed her thick hair, rinsed it out, and then washed her body. Shortly she was done, and she looked around for a towel.

“Er….” She hesitated. “There’s no towels here…” she murmured awkwardly. Skull cursed under his breath.

“Just a moment, I’ll get ours from the trunk under my bed. If they’ve moved the trunks in already…” He informed her. Then he quickly left the room and returned bearing a towel. His eyes were focused at his eye-level as he approached where she stood shivering. She took the towel from him and quickly dried off before wrapping her hair up in the towel. Then she retrieved the hospital gown and put it on.

“Now what?” She wondered.

“Now we wait. Let’s return to our bunk.” He suggested, and Tsuna followed him into the other room.

“Is it okay if I lie down for a bit while we wait?” Tsuna wondered.

“That’s fine. A lot of the other children are still asleep.” Skull agreed calmly. Tsuna quickly scrambled up onto the bed. Skull gently nudged her and Tsuna scrambled towards the back wall so Skull could sit on the front side. “Lay down.” Skull urged her, and Tsuna did as he said. She lay down with her back against the wall, facing Skull’s back. She wasn’t really tired, but there wasn’t much else to do. While they waited, a few of the other soldiers wandered over to them. A couple had their new partners with them, but some didn’t.

“So, kids huh? Not messed up enough that they press-ganged the lot of us into this messed-up experiment of theirs.” A tall, stocky man with yellow hair and brown eyes grumbled.

“Experiment?” Tsuna asked before Skull or one of the others could reply. Intrigued, she sat up and propped herself up on Skull’s shoulder so she could look over him at the new people. Skull huffed a strange sort of half-laugh, and the other men looked startled.

“Yeah, we’re not sure what they’re looking for, but none of us in this barrack or the ones like it are here by choice. Not even the adults. And they keep injecting us with what they call ‘immunizations’, but all it does it hurt or kill us.” Another man, this one a short redhead with blue eyes, grumbled.

“Costa.” Skull growled, and the redheaded man frowned at Skull. “That is not child-appropriate.” Skull warned.

“Kids are going to have to get used to it, Skull. You think they’ll stop just because there are children here?” The redhead retorted.

“It’s okay, Skull.” Tsuna tried to reassure him. “It’s not like it’s any less scary to _know_ people have and will die here than to just guess it.” She added wryly, and most of the others winced at her blunt words. Apparently they weren’t used to children, she thought with a sigh.

“Still…” Skull grumbled, and Tsuna wanted to smile at him. He was an awesome partner, being all protective of her. The others continued talking, but Tsuna lost interest and returned to curl up in their bed once more. Some time later, long after the anesthesia had finished wearing off, the Sergeant returned.

“Lunch time!” Sergeant Romano called, and the soldiers chivvied all the children into a line. A couple of the children were crying, Tsuna noticed, and she made a mental note to try and help comfort those kids later. Especially the ones whose partner looked really uncomfortable. Or upset.

Lunch turned out to be in the same building, although they had to go outside to get there. After exiting their barracks, which were on the corner of the building, they turned right and walked to about midway down the length of the building. They entered two by two through a large double-doorway into a basic cafeteria. The food didn’t look very appetizing, but Tsuna determined not to be picky. Just going by the state of the soldiers around, both her Squad and others already milling about the cafeteria, the people in charge weren’t afraid to starve people under their control. Food was also probably in small portions, she thought. When they went through the line, they each got their own tray. Tsuna was right, the portions were small. Thankfully the children received the same portion as the adults, so even though it was not enough for an adult, it was more than Tsuna really needed. She finished what she could eat, and then she made sure no one was paying attention before she surreptitiously slipped her remainder onto Skull’s plate.

Skull quickly ate the excess so no one would notice what she’d done, and didn’t comment on her generosity. Tsuna hopped no one noticed the children didn’t need that much, so she could continue giving him her extra food. Once their Squad finished eating, they were lead out into the yard once more. The Sargeant had the group split up, adults to one side and children to the other. The adults were led off out of sight into another building, and Tsuna started to feel panicked as soon as Skull was out of her sight. Noting the other children were also worried, she carefully chivvied them all into a small version of their formation. She also noted that the boys ages ranged from a year or so above her to about six years old. She wondered why, but stayed silent. The entire time she kept an eye on the new man standing in front of them. He nodded approvingly when she stood in her spot in the new ‘formation’.

“Very good. It took you ten minutes to fall into formation. Since it’s the first day, I will allow you the extra time. You are normally allotted two minutes to fall-in. That means to get into this pattern. Make sure to memorize who is on either side of you for the future. Now, stay in formation and follow me.” The man, a string-bean of average height sort of guy, turned and led the children into a building across from their barracks. Upon entering the main double-door, they found themselves in a large gymnasium. Other little ‘Squads’ of children stood lined up across the gym. Tsuna’s group was lead to the back left middle of the larger group of students.

“Welcome, new littles, to your new school. Every day while your partners are away training or working, you will meet here for your own learning. We meet until dinnertime, when you will rejoin with your partners for supper, then have shower time. After that you will have partner bonding activities, any homework we have assigned you, and then bedtime.” A large portly man beamed at them from a stage up at the front of the room. While he’d been talking, Tsuna had been counting the groups. There seemed to be eleven other ‘Squads’ of children besides her own, for a total of twelve Squads. She wondered if they were all of the Squads in this place, or if this was only one ‘set’ of Squads. She also noted that there were very few other girls here. In fact she only counted two. It seemed like they weren’t very fond of girls, here.

“Each class will consist of one of you Squads of littles.” The portly man continued. “The person who guided you here today is your assigned teacher. I am your principal, you can call me Mr. Cuomo. Some of you may not yet speak Italian, so it is the job of all Squad members to help teach Italian to those who don’t know it. You are only allowed to speak Italian unless told otherwise. Now, that is all for today’s announcements. Teachers, lead out your classes one at a time, please.” The portly man, Mr. Cuomo, instructed.

The first to leave were those at the front right, and front left. Those two left out doors at the front on either side of the gym and stage. Eventually Tsuna’s class was allowed to depart, and Tsuna wiped her sweaty hands discretely on her gown as she walked. Through the doorway was a large hall. Just outside the door were several long folding tables, set up end-to-end so they made a long line down the hallway. On top of the tables were sets of children’s clothes in various sizes. The Squad stopped just inside the door and one by one each child was measured, given a size, and then directed to the tables where adult men helped them gather the necessary materials.

Tsuna was measured first, due to her position in the Squad, and afterwards she was assigned a ‘Youth – Small’ size. Quickly she moved over to the tables. The man behind the first table gave Tsuna a set of two pants and two tee-shirts. The pants were in the same olive-green that the adults in her Squad wear, the shirts were bright orange. She moved to the next table, where she was given some basic underwear in olive green, as well as one pair of tennis shoes in black. The next table gave Tsuna a small backpack, as well as what looked like a toiletries kit with a toothbrush, a small washcloth, a rough thin olive-green towel, and a plastic mug. The table after that had some school supplies, a pencil, a pen, an eraser, a notebook, and a water bottle. Finally, once the Squad was done, they formed back up into their lines and were led to a new classroom.

Tsuna, who’d been nervous the entire time since the word ‘school’ had been mentioned, took her seat quietly. Inside her mind was a panicked, screaming, flailing chicken running in circles, but outwardly she was calm. Tsuna had the nasty feeling that each child’s school grades would reflect on both the other children and the adults. She really didn’t want to be responsible for losing Skull his leadership position, or any other privilege he might have. She also wasn’t looking forward to learning what the punishment here was for being ‘dame’. She’d been a failure for as long as she could remember, after all. It wasn’t like being kidnapped would suddenly make her more intelligent, or a better learner, she thought.

Only, it seemed somehow it had. The class worked on memorizing their own assigned numbers, information about their squad, and basic Italian for those who didn’t know it. All school-day Tsuna found she was learning faster than she ever had.

_“Maybe they injected some sort of smartening experiment into me?_ ” She thought in wonder. Whatever they’d done to her, it was really helping! She also found, to her dismay, that she’d been right about their learning speed reflecting back onto others in their group. What she’d neglected to note, however, was that she had been assigned leader to the children just like Skull was to the adults. So if the other kids messed up, _she_ got punished too! A couple of the little children, both tiny, had tried to say something to the teacher, but had done so in their native languages. Tsuna didn’t know what their native tongues were, but they weren’t either Japanese or Italian. Every time the teacher caught one of the children speaking in something that wasn’t Italian, one of the guards from around the room would draw the trouble-maker up to the front of the room, and another would bring Tsuna.

The first time the child in question got in trouble, they were spanked thrice on the bottom. As was Tsuna. The second time, the one who got them in trouble was issued with a metal cuff for their wrist. Once the bracelet was on, the child received a shock for misbehaving, and a shock any time they misbehaved after that. After the first time she was spanked, Tsuna was issued with a bracelet and shocked whenever one of the other children was punished. By the end of the day, Tsuna could feel blood dripping slowly from under her cuff. It also felt inflamed and burned, aching in time with her heartbeat. Tsuna whimpered a little each time she was shocked, but forced herself to stay silent in between. Thankfully the other children caught on quickly and didn’t say anything if they didn’t know what to say. After school, the children were led back outside to where they’d last seen their adult Squad-mates. They stood in formation for what felt like half an hour, silent except for the crying children.

At length, Tsuna heard a lot of adults marching in their direction, but she didn’t dare turn to look. Not with the gleefully vindictive look the teacher had on his face while he eyed them, playing with the remote control in his hand. When the adults got closer, Tsuna could feel Skull approaching, which puzzled her. At first she thought it was all in her head, just wishful thinking, but then the other children moved further apart and Skull was sliding into place at her back. If it weren’t for the teacher watching the children like a hawk would a mouse, Tsuna would have collapsed back against Skull in relief. As it was, however, she stood at attention absolutely still. It felt to her like Skull was puzzled by her strange behavior, but Tsuna didn’t want to be punished again today. Especially since she hadn’t actually done anything that merited punishment.

When the Squad was fully re-integrated, they were led back to the cafeteria. Tsuna was in so much pain she felt nauseous and didn’t want to eat, but the teacher was still there and still watching them. So she forced herself to choke down every bite. When she was completely full, she waited until the teacher (whose name they did not know) looked over at some of the other children. She used that opportunity to slip her food to Skull, and then looked over to see what had the teacher frowning. Noticing that the two small children who’d been punished the most (after herself, of course) were just sitting and silently crying instead of eating, Tsuna resigned herself to being punished. She slipped from her seat, evading Skulls hand that reached out to grab her and keep her in place. If she was going to be punished anyways, she wanted it to be for something she did, instead of what others did. She marched over to the two little ones (conveniently side-by-side in between their two partners), and leaned down between them so she could whisper to them quietly.

“I’m so sorry, little ones. I wish I knew how to tell you what’s going on, to translate the rules for you. I know it hurts, but you have to eat. You need to keep your energy up to heal.” She murmured, gently reaching around the one on the right and taking his hand in hers. She gently forced his hand to pick up a spoon and scoop up some mashed potatoes. It was clear the little boy didn’t want to eat, but he seemed to get the point of her quiet pleading words (despite them being in Italian) as he looked up through his bangs to find the teachers’ eyes on them. He nudged the boy at his left, who also noticed the teacher, and the two boys silently began to eat at Tsuna’s urging. When she felt confident they would finish their plates on their own, she silently retreated to her own seat. When she looked up through her hair, she noted the adults of the Squad gawking at her. She shifted closer to Skull, feeling uncomfortable with all the attention. To her relief, when Tsuna looked up at the teacher, the man looked disappointed. When everyone was finished, their Squad was led back to the barracks once more and then dismissed for the night.

Almost as soon as the guards, the Sargeant, and the Teacher were gone, the adults turned to check on their charges. To Tsuna’s chagrine, many of them turned to interrogate her.

“What were you doing? You’re lucky they didn’t punish you for leaving your seat during dinner!” Exclaimed the redheaded ‘Costa’. Tsuna winced.

“I figured getting punished for leaving my seat was better than getting punished because some of the others were ‘misbehaving’.” Tsuna retorted, just about fed up with the whole day, and making air quotes around the word misbehaving.

“Misbehaving?” Costa, who was assigned to one of the two boys Tsuna just helped, asked disbelievingly.

“They apparently don’t believe in explaining the rules before holding us accountable.” Tsuna replied dryly.

“Why would you be punished if another kid misbehaves?” The blond haired and brown eyed man demanded incredulously.

“Same reason I would.” Skull replied grimly, and the other soldiers shuddered at the grim reminder it gave them. “What did they do to you, Piccola?” He demanded gruffly. Tsuna silently held up her wrist, and the motion caused a few drops of blood to fall. He swore, scooping her up into his arms and marching over to their bunk.

“Skull!” She protested, but he shushed her and sat with her in his lap. Carefully he lifted the wrist in question.

“What does the cuff do?” He growled. Tsuna shrugs.

“Shocks us.” She replied, and noted the grim looks a few of the other men, the ones matched to children wearing cuffs, traded. With a displeased look, Skull carefully slipped the cuff as high up her arm as it would go, exposing the blackened, cracked, and bleeding skin beneath. He swore more violently upon seeing the injury.

“She’s going to need a medic.” The blond man warned, and Skull swore again.

“Really, Valentino? We hadn’t noticed.” Costa snarled waspishly. The blond haired man with brown eyes, Valentino, smacked Costa upside the back of his head. Surprisingly, the redhead didn’t turn it into a fight. With a grimace, Skull made to stand.

“Please don’t.” Tsuna whimpered, and Skull paused.

“Why not, Piccola?” Skull asked her, and Tsuna hesitated for a moment before deciding she’d best tell him, even if she didn’t have proof.

“It’ll make everything worse. And they’ll probably mark me down as a problem child.” She murmured. Skull sighed.

“I know, but this needs treatment before it gets infected.” Skull gently informed her while he finished standing.

“I don’t know how she wasn’t crying. That looks terrible.” Valentino remarked behind them while Skull strode to the door. Skull rapped harshly upon the door, and the metal echoed shortly before the door was yanked open by what Tsuna could only describe as a guard.

“Yes?” The soldier on the other side barked, and Tsuna shrank back against Skull.

“We need a medic for the girl.” Skull informed the guard. The man frowned, but glanced down at Tsuna’s wrist, which Skull was holding up as proof, and swore.

“****ed Trosk’s going to….!” The guard continued swearing even as he moved back and gestured for Skull to come through. “Any more like her?”

“I’m not sure. Boys, any of the others need treatment?” Skull demanded of the other adult Squadmembers.

“Mine!” called both Costa and a man Tsuna didn’t know.

“We’ve two more children who need treatment.” Skull informed the guard solemnly.

“Bring them on through, then.” The guard sighed wearily, and the two other men came, leading their charges by their non-hurt hands. The walk through the compound to the medics’ building was silent, and Tsuna could feel Skull fuming the entire time. When he finally set her down on the medic’s table, he was practically snarling. She could see it in his eyes, though his face and body language remained calm. Tsuna was quietly impressed by Skull’s ability to control his body language. Skull circled the table to stand behind Tsuna’s position while the other two men set the two tiny boys down on either side of her. A medic aide took a quick look at all three burned wrists, Tsuna’s the worst, and then left. The little boys were crying again, and Tsuna gently gathered them into her side. She ignored the burned wrist so she could use her arms to give each boy a sideways hug. Quietly she murmured gentle reassurances to them that she knew they couldn’t understand. It was the tone she was really going for. Finally an actual doctor came in. He clucked his tongue at the injuries he could see, and got to work right away.

“First days are always the worst.” The Doctor grumbled as he gently but briskly smeared a white cream over all three wrists, then wrapped and bandaged each wrist with gauze. He wrapped layers of gauze on until the shocking bracelet couldn’t fit down over them and was forced to stay higher up the arm. Then he gave each of them an injection.

“Anti-biotics.” The man explained to the upset adults. “They’ll need to come back in two days for more antibiotics and a check-up. Smear some of the cream on their injuries at least once a day, though twice is better. I’ll make sure you’re supplied with gauze and cream.” The Doctor continued before sending them all back to the barracks. The group were silent the entire walk back. It wasn’t until they got back that someone spoke. To Tsuna’s surprise, it was she who spoke.

“We should get everyone together.” She announced while Skull set her gently on her feet once more.

“Oh? What for?” Skull wondered. Tsuna sent him a deadpan look.

“Well, for one thing, most of us don’t know each other’s names. For another, I’d like to see if anyone speaks the languages of the kids who don’t know Italian so we can explain the rules to them, and also what’s going on. Plus it would really help us to do our homework – learning and practicing Italian for those who don’t know it – if the new words can be explained and/or written in the kids’ native languages.” Skull nodded along to Tsuna’s explanation, and then called everyone together. Having heard her, all the kids who could speak Italian brought their notebooks and pens. Tsuna made a mental note that besides herself there were six children who did not understand Italian.

“Skull? I need my notebook and pen.” She informed him. He quickly fetched the items in question, and the other soldiers all made sure their own kids had their supplies as well. Once everyone was assembled, they sort of formed two circles as best they could. The adults all stood, leaned/sat on bunks (all three levels) while the children sort of all sat near each other in the center. Skull looked to Tsuna.

“Your idea, your show Piccola.” He told her. Tsuna shrugged and stood next to him. Quickly she explained her ideas to everyone who spoke Italian (which seemed to be all the adults plus five kids). “Let’s start with us kids, so hopefully we can figure out what languages everyone speaks.” Tsuna suggested, before she turned her attention to the children. She pointed to herself, and pronounced clearly “Tsunayoshi Sawada, Tsuna. I am twelve years old. I speak Japanese and Italian.” The children who didn’t speak Italian looked confused, but Tsuna kept going anyways. She gestured to one of the boys who did speak Italian.

“Alexandre Marceaux. Alex. I am seven years old. I speak French and Italian.” Then Tsuna pointed to another of the Italian Speaking children. Eventually she ran through each of the ones she knew understood Italian, as it was the largest group. She wrote down everyone’s names as they went, and 

“Anyone speak anything besides Italian and Japanese?” She asked cheerfully, and Alex raised his hand.

“I speak French.” He offered. Tsuna smiled at him cheerfully.

“Great, would you ask if any of the other children speak French, please?” with a nod, Alex turned to face the others and in a quick flurry of French asked if any of them spoke French. Two children raised their hands excitedly. Quickly Alex explained to those children what they were doing. Then he turned to Tsuna.

“I will translate into Italian for them, this time.” He explained, and Tsuna motioned for him to go ahead. Alex spoke to the first child, one of the tiny children who went to the medics with Tsuna. He listened intently to the child’s reply, then turned to Tsuna once more.

“This is Gabriel Allaire, he is six years old. He speaks French and German.” Then he moved on to the next child. Once more Alex listened seriously to the other kid before turning to translate.

“This is Louis Ducharme. He is ten years old. He speaks French and Hindi.” Alex translated. Tsuna marked everything down then looked up at beamed at the children in question. Everyone stared at Tsuna as hearts and sparkles seemed to fill the air around and behind Tsuna. Somehow they all felt happier, too.

“That’s wonderful! Alex, will you please have Gabriel ask if anyone else speaks German?” she requested, and Alex dutifully repeated her request. Little six-year-old Gabriel nodded solemnly and repeated the question in German. Two more children raised their hands this time, and working together Alex and Gabriel translated the replied to the questions. First to French, and then to Italian.

“This is Hans Becker, he speaks German and English. He is nine years old.” Was first. Next came:

“Lukas Müller. Six years old. Speaks German and English.”

This time Tsuna asked if Hans would ask if anyone spoke English. Alexei Popov, seven years old, speaks both Russian and English, did, and he informed them that Vasily Ivanov also spoke Russian and was eight years old. Finally they had all the children who didn’t speak English written down, as well as what languages they spoke. Looking at their list, she saw that they needed someone who spoke Russian, French, and German.

“So it looks like we need adults who speak Russian and German…any of you lot speak those languages?” Tsuna asked the twenty adults gathered around them.

“I can.” Skull replied easily, and Tsuna startled.

“You speak Italian, Russian, _and_ German?!” She cried, amazed. Skull nodded.

“I travelled a lot for my work. I speak a lot of different languages.” He replied easily.

“Why didn’t you say anything earlier?” Tsuna huffed, but told him what to tell the different children.

“You didn’t ask.” Skull laughed. Then he relayed all the rules they’d been given at school, and also told the children what they’d been learning that day was. The children who spoke other languages were also instructed to take notes and to write notes next to their notes from class (if they had any). Once that was done, Tsuna went around and got the names of all the adults, plus what languages they spoke. Skull translated the adults information into Russian, German, and French. Then she went back through the Italian children’s information for those who didn’t speak Italian. She had each child raise their hand while she shared their information and Skull translated again. Once they were done, Tsuna closed her notebook.

“Thank you, everyone!” She exclaimed happily, smiling and causing flowers and sparkles to appear in the air around her. “All those who speak another language and Italian please get together with those who don’t speak Italian and help them practice their Italian lessons from today.” She instructed. There were a few grumbles, but the children did as she asked. “I guess everyone else do any homework you have or whatever?” Tsuna added, looking to Skull, who nodded.

“Sounds good, Piccola.” He agreed. Tsuna pouted at him.

“I don’t know that word.” She informed him gravely. Skull just chuckled at her.

“It means ‘little one’.” He informed her gently. Tsuna pouted harder.

“So, you’re calling me the same thing _they_ do?” She demanded grumpily. Skull silently wondered if she was a Mist, because there really shouldn’t be crying emojis and raindrops appearing in the air around her naturally.

“Would you prefer Tesoro? It means treasure.” Skull informed her. Tsuna blushed.

“It’s better.” She grumbled shyly. Skull laughed at her and gently urged her over to their bed while the others drifted away to their own tasks. Once seated, Tsuna worked on practicing writing and reading in Italian. Skull gently lifted her into his lap so he could watch over her shoulder and help her practice. When it was time for everyone to shower and brush their teeth before bed, Tsuna remembered her backpack and it’s contents. Tsuna pulled out everything she’d need to get ready and joined everyone else in the bathroom. Shyly she went about her business before stripping and stepping under the cold spray once more. Skull stood guard for her while she showered and once she was wrapped up in a fluffy towel he took his own shower. Tsuna quickly dressed, and then dropped her clothes from the day and the used towels down the chute by the sinks. Then made her way back to their bunk where she curled up. Skull soon joined her, settling down with his back to her. Shyly Tsuna cuddled up to his back, her own back facing the back wall of their bunk. The excitement from the day made her quickly drift off to sleep, despite the lingering pain from both the burn and her surgical wounds.

* * *

* * *


	2. Chapter 2 - Elemental Bonds

* * *

* * *

## Chapter 2

Much of Tsuna’s life at the compound followed this routine. Every so often there was a deviation, such as the times they were all seen by a Doctor for examinations and injections of various ‘substances’. The children also gained ‘exercise time’ in both the morning and in the thirty minutes between school and their adult partners finishing their own training. Eventually choir was added to their school practice. Learning to sing was followed shortly by learning to play different instruments, dancing, etiquette, and penmanship classes. Occasionally they were taken to a gun range and taught to shoot. Both regular handguns and sniper rifles.

Six months passed this way, with Tsuna and Skull growing closer every day. They became so close that Tsuna began to feel like a limb was missing every time Skull was gone. It felt torturous for him to be absent. One day it sort of boiled over. She hadn’t been sleeping well for about a month, dreading each new day and the separation it would bring. They guards came to take the children for their mandatory morning outside exercise, and Tsuna broke down crying. She sort of just fell to her knees, weeping all the while. Immediately Skull stepped forward to comfort her and get Tsuna back on her feet. The teacher rolled his eyes at her behavior, and one of the guards came and grabbed her roughly. The guard wound one huge burly arm beneath her own arms and hoisted her into the air so she sort of dangled. Skull had to be restrained, his furious swears all that reached her. The group of children followed the Teacher nervously, leaving the furious Skull behind.

Tsuna kept crying all the way to the grass field where they were supposed to play soccer that day. Instead of playing soccer, the Teacher sentenced everyone to running laps for Tsuna’s crimes. He also shocked her twice, to remind her who was in charge. Tsuna cried harder, muffling her scream into her own arm as she was shocked, but joined the other children running laps. Surprisingly not one of the other children gave Tsuna a hard time. Probably because she’d been punished for all of their ‘bad’ deeds at least three times apiece. Plus she always sat with them when they were troubled, and comforted them when she could. To her mind, they were all ‘hers’. Her responsibility to look after, care for, and keep in line. They were her people, just like the adults were Skulls.

The rest of the day passed in a blur for Tsuna, and she was punished several times. It was as bad as the first day, for Tsuna. She could feel blood dripping down her arm once more. It hadn’t gotten this bad since that first day, though it’d been close a couple times. Her mind stayed distant and upset until she felt Skull slip into position behind her after school. Suddenly she snapped into hyperfocus, and all she could focus on was Skull’s warm heat at her back. She heard him inhale sharply, and then it felt like something ‘snapped’ into place between them. It was like whatever way she had of ‘knowing’ how he was feeling when he felt strongly had ratcheted up two hundred percent. Or like their minds and souls were connected. She could feel the strange heat that sometimes came from her now (since that first terrible injection) reaching out from her and into Skull, and a strange heat reaching back from Skull and into her, inseparable intwined. Her own eyes widened in amazement. It was like all the longing from the past month or two had been building up to this moment.

Even through her amazement and happiness, Tsuna dared not speak out. Instead she thought _“Skull. My Skull.”_

 ** _“My Sky. My little Tesoro.”_** His thoughts rumbled back to her in a croon, and Tsuna almost fell over. The strange heat faded away as it sometimes did, their connection still there but not at the forefront of her awareness any more. Everything else faded back into blurriness, and then to dark as she passed out. She had a moment to feel Skull’s alarm, and then she knew no more.

* * *

Skull fumed as he paced back and forth inside the ‘time out’ cage inside their current training building. After being thoroughly disciplined for breaking ranks and trying to get to Tsuna, he’d been placed in the time out box. It was a four by two cage made of electrical fence, and topped by more electrical fence. He paced restlessly, wondering what had caused Tsuna’s breakdown. It was like she was all he could think about. Worry restlessly about. He knew she’d been increasingly upset by something, though none of the other children had reported what it was that happened during the day which was upsetting her. Nor had he been able to pry answers out of his stubborn Tesoro. Finally Skull was allowed out of the cage to be disciplined once more before they headed back to meet up with the children once more. Skull was very careful to keep his flames caged in the center of his being so that his wounds from ‘discipline’ wouldn’t miraculously heal suddenly. When Skull caught his first glimpse of Tsuna since that morning, Skull frowned. She stared absently out in front of her, in a way that suggested that she was absorbing exactly nothing that went on around her. Silently he slipped into his spot behind her, ready to go back to the barracks so he could check her over.

He felt her focus snap to him suddenly, and then his little Tesoro was _on fire_. Beautiful amber Sky flames roaring up from her, purer and more powerful than any Sky flames he’d ever felt. Stronger even than the three Sky Arcobaleno he’d known. Then her flames snapped out towards him, demanding his attention and flames in a way no one ever had. His own flames no longer under his normally iron control, they flew for her flames and a band immediately spun into existence between them. There was none of the pain of failed bonds or people trying to force bonds like he’d felt in the past. The feeling of home was everything everyone said it could be, and more. It was even better because this was _his Tesoro_. He wondered if she knew what had happened?

_“My Skull.”_ He heard in his mind, and wondered once more if she had Mist flames.

**_“My Sky. My little Tesoro.”_** He thought back at her reverently. A moment later, he felt a strange dampening sensation on their bond, and he felt her fatigue at the back of his mind. Alarmed, he quickly moved to catch her as she fainted. Both the Sergeant and Teacher’s gaze snapped to them as the duo was now out of formation. Skull felt the burning pain on Tsuna’s wrist almost as though it were his own.

“My charge needs a medic.” Skull barked to the Sergeant. The man nodded once and two guards came forward to lead the couple to the medic building. Once inside, the medic pronounced that _his Tesoro_ had simply fainted from shock. Of course Skull didn’t believe that explanation for one second, but he didn’t want the military or government agents to realize it was use of flames which had caused Tsuna to faint. That way lay Vindicare (if they were lucky) or experimentation (if they were not). After having her burn treated and getting another antibiotic shot, Skull was allowed to escort his Tesoro back to the barracks. Rather than go back to the cafeteria, Skull chose to stay with Tsuna in the barracks.

Silently he scooted her over until she lay on her back at the back of the bed. Then he curled up around her, pulling her until her head rested on the junction of his shoulder and her side pressed up against his front. They both ended up missing dinner, homework/partner time, as well as shower time before Tsuna started to wake. Skull felt her mind waking long before her body did. Eventually her eyes open and she looked up at him in surprise for a moment.

“Skull?” She asked quietly, and Skull heard everything she didn’t say aloud.

“It’s alright, _Tesoro Mio._ ” He soothed quietly. Then, in a voice just barely loud enough that she could hear it, he explained about flames to her. The explanation was short and clear, as was the following explanation about the Vindice and the laws concerning flames.

“Those orangey-amber flames of yours are Sky flames. That makes me your Cloud guardian.” He added happily. Tsuna stared up at him with her huge amber eyes.

“So I have Sky flames, and my purple ones are cloud flames like yours? And the Indigo ones are Mist?” He chuckled lowly.

“Yes, Tesoro. You are so amazing. I can’t believe you have three flames.” He praised, and Tsuna blushed. “From now on, after we go to bed, we will practice with your flames. Especially your Mist and Cloud flames. You need to learn how to use them, and how to hide them. At least until we can escape.” Skull ordered. Tsuna nodded agreeably. From then until Tsuna passed out from exhaustion once more, Skull had Tsuna practice drawing out and hiding her flames. He even had her draw out his flames with her Sky flames a few times towards the end.

Once she’d fallen asleep once more, Skull stared down at his little Sky in wonder once more. She was so perfect. He only wished he’d met her somewhere else, that they didn’t have to live in this hellscape. His Sky deserved so much better. He’d considered escaping before, of course, but the implanted trackers and bombs inside every soldier and child had made such a thing seem impossible before. Now he’d talked Tsuna through ways she might be able to remove those things from them with Mist flames.

Of course her control wasn’t good enough to remove everything tonight, but he had faith she’d be able to do it soon. Having felt her flames while she pushed them outside her body, he was happy to say that both her Cloud and Mist flames were stronger than their former Arcobaleno counterparts. Which was strange, considering he would not have thought he could stand a stronger Cloud in his Sky’s Sky. Perhaps it was because they were _hers_? He fell asleep pondering these thoughts.

* * *

In a dark room, four men watched glowing screens in front of them. On the screens, a figure dressed in camouflage crawled their way up a hill and into a bush where it proceeded to take out a scope and look down onto a military compound. Nothing happened for ten more minutes.

“He’s come every night, Sir. And he just sits there, watching. During the daytime he uses different hills, circling around the compound.” One of the three seated figures reported, turning to look up at the man who was standing just behind them. The man hummed thoughtfully.

“Any sign of any others?” The standing man demanded. The seated man shook his head.

“None, sir.” The seated man reported.

“Any idea why he’s here, Tolinor?” ‘Sir’ asked. The sitting man, Tolinor, hesitated.

“He appears to be watching patrol routes, guard rotations, and number 001143.” One of the other men sitting down replied.

“Watching 001143? Our most promising soldier so far?” ‘Sir’ mused. “Very well. I think I’ll have 001143 separated from the others and moved to a remote field. Let’s see if we can draw in this mouse, hmm?” ‘Sir’ chuckled darkly. “Let one promising recruit bring us another.” He added cheerfully before he turned and strode from the room briskly. The third seated man sort of collapsed forward onto the desk the monitors shared.

“I don’t know how you two speak to him so easily. That man is terrifying.” The third man complained.

“Shut up Carl.” Tolinor replied with an eyeroll no one could see in the darkened room.

* * *

In hindsight, Skull really should have expected his instincts to be keyed up and unhappy. He’d heard plenty of times how new Guardians and their instincts would not be separated from their Sky for _any reason_. How they tended to cling and need reassurance that their Sky was alright. Knowing this, it wasn’t really surprising that the morning separation went…badly. Skull had ended up dog-piled by about twenty guards, unable to call any more Cloud flames to be used without giving away their secret. Tsuna’s shrieking “Hieee….Skull!” as he was first surrounded and then dog piled did not help. The sounds of her screaming only enraged and worried Skull further. He finally managed to pop his head free from under the bodies attempting to crush him and see that Tsuna was fine, standing surrounded by her fellow children. While he lay there on the floor, helpless to act, Tsuna and the children were chivvied back into formation and then led away. Then he other adults in their Squad were led away, and finally Skull was allowed up.

He wasn’t allowed to walk freely, however. Instead two guards held onto his arms and four guards walked behind them, just in case. The guards took him to a field he’d never been to before, right next to the fence. Skull was pushed into the field, the gate locked behind him, and the guards walked away. They just… left him there. Skull looked around suspiciously, his metaphorical hackles raised. There were no guards surrounding the fence where he was, no guards on the nearby guard tower, or patrolling either side of the main fence. In fact, Skull couldn’t see any guards or soldiers anywhere. Nor any children. He felt a sinking sensation in his gut and crouched down in case he needed to move quickly. He didn’t move for quite some time. He felt a little silly when three hours passed and nothing happened, but didn’t let up because he wasn’t going to be lulled into a false sense of security when things were so obviously wrong.

Then, just before what would have been lunch, he stared disbelievingly as Colonello jogged up to the fence from the outside. Once he reached the fence, Colonello quickly climbed the _formerly electric_ fence, and vaulted himself over the barbed wire to hit the ground and roll to his feet on the inside. Skull quickly dashed over to the idiot.

_“What are you doing here?!”_ He hissed at the idiot, then shook his head impatiently and amended _“Never mind, get out of here, you idiot!”_ before the Rain could reply. Colonello narrowed his eyes at the Cloud, who was now pushing the Sniper back towards the fence urgently. Colonello shook Skull off with a huff.

“That’s a fine thank-you to someone come to rescue you!” Colonello growled.

“It’s obviously a set up!” Skull snarled. “They don’t just _not have guards_. And that main fence is supposed to be _electric_. It should have killed you to touch it!” Skull added venomously.

“Fine, then let’s get out of here before they come to spring the trap!” Colonello growled right back.

“Don’t you think I would have, if I could?! They’ve got trackers and bombs implanted in our bodies!?” Skull informed his semi-friend.

“What?!” Colonello gasped.

“Besides, I can’t leave now, not without my partner.” Skull added with a sigh, raking a hand through his hair.

“Now is no time to be sentimental - !” Colonello started to scold when they both heard the fence behind them sizzle as the electricity re-engaged.

“Get out of here!” Skull urged once more in a hissed whisper. “I’ll distract them. Somehow.” He added in a mutter.

“Too late.” Colonello corrected, watching as men appeared outside the fence in every direction. “If I try to shoot my way out, they’ll probably blow you up. Assuming you don’t die in the crossfire. I’m not keen to find out what little bits of Cloud all over me feels like.” Colonello snarked, taking off his rifle and tossing it away from himself as commanded by one of the soldiers surrounding them. Both Skull and Colonello sank to their knees, with their hands folded behind their heads on command.

“Well, at least Lal will come looking for me. She’ll get us out.” Colonello attempted to reassure.

“Mirch’s going to rip you a new one for taking such a stupid risk.” Skull snorted.

“Yeah, but this set-up means they knew I was watching them. Lal’s more likely to be able to observe this place without being detected.” Colonello pointed out. Skull shrugged, unable to refute that, as the soldiers closed in around them. Soon enough Colonello and Skull were dragged apart and away. Skull figured he might see Colonello again in the cafeteria, if the Rain wasn’t shipped off elsewhere.

* * *

Six more months passed before any more big changes occurred in their lives again. During that time Skull and Tsuna began to get better about being separated, though they both still felt the ache in their flames and bodies. The day everything changed, it was summer again. The day was one of their bad ones, Tsuna crying silently as Skull silently raged over being forcibly separated. Both their flames had been raging at being caged, recently, so they were both riled up by that as well. Still, they didn’t make a fuss, instead doing as ordered. Neither of them suspecting they would no longer be meeting back up at the end of the day.

It was six minutes before the end of the school day, just before the children would have gone outside for their last exercise period, when a guard and a new soldier showed up at the door. Tsuna diligently kept on with her work, as did the other children. Sometimes interruptions happened, and half the time they were done on purpose to teach the children to ignore everything except their given task. The bad feeling which had filled her since parting with Skull that morning intensified with their arrival, and silently Tsuna curled one arm around her stomach. Skull called her gut feelings ‘intuition’, and they’d found that her intuition was always right. 100% accurate.

“Teacher Trosk, we are here to retrieve 001404. Here is the paperwork.” The new man proclaimed. He handed the paperwork to the curious Teacher, who leafed through it briefly before nodding to the man.

“Everything seems to be in order.” The Teacher admitted. “001404, you are assigned to this Sergeant, Sergeant Ricci until told otherwise.” The Teacher ordered, and Tsuna stood and quickly gathered her things.

“Come.” The new Sergeant barked, and Tsuna hurried over to stand before him. In short order she was escorted from the building and back into the very first building she’d awoken in. They all called it the ‘intake and outtake’ building. The first and last building anyone saw during their stay in The Compound. They entered into the gym, and Tsuna was surprised to find an entire Squad (minus any children) standing at parade rest inside. Guards lined the walls once more, and Sergeant Ricci marched up to the front with Tsuna following like a scurrying shadow. The bad feeling her intuition was giving her increased until they were nausea-inducing, and she felt like she was being cut in half. Tsuna forced herself not to make a sign or movement betraying how she felt, though. She’d been punished before when reacting to the physical pains her intuition gave her sometimes.

“001446! Step forward!” Barked Sergeant Ricci, and Tsuna shuddered. This was like déjà vu. A white, blond haired and blue eyed man stepped forward from the leader position in the Squad. Tsuna’s heart sank, but she tried to stay positive. Maybe she was here to help make the transition smoother for the new children? Then, once this Squad leaders’ partner was up to speed, she’d be returned to Skull, right?

“Meet your new partner, 001404!” The Sergeant barked.

“Hieeee?!?!?!” Tsuna shrieked in surprise at the announcement. So, apparently she wasn’t going to get to go back to Skull. She’d been….reassigned, for some reason. Tsuna thought this patently unfair. She and Skull were getting better! They’d done everything asked of them and endured any punishments without complaint!

“Silence, 001404!” Sergeant Rici snarled, and Tsuna flinched back from him. Apparently this Sergeant wasn’t as easy going as her old Sergeant, either.

“Despite her current unseemly display,” Sergeant Ricci began, voice thick with irritation “001404 is actually an experienced Squad Leader partner. She has been reassigned to you because her previous partner was acting up. Unfortunately he is a valuable asset, as is she, so instead of retiring one of them, she has been reassigned to you. It will be your job to keep her in line.” And then the Sergeant was off, giving the men in the room the same speech the man in scrubs had given her old Squad.

“Fall-in, 001404, 001446!” the Sergeant barked, and Tsuna’s body moved on auto-pilot to stand before her new partner and Squad Leader. Tsuna tried to hold back the tears, but was unable. Silent tears dripped down her face as the Squad was marched into the next room.

“Kid, you okay, kora?” Her new partner whispered down to her while others met up with their new partners.

“Hai….” She whispered despairingly, forgetting for a moment to speak in Italian. Thankfully the man seemed to understand, because he didn’t ask anything else. It was strange, being the only child not in a hospital gown as the group moved to an entirely new barracks. To her surprise, the barracks was not even in the same building as her last one. This barracks was a building she’d not seen before, hiding just behind the medics’ building. It was the same shape and size as her last barracks building, though. It even had it’s own cafeteria, and Tsuna’s heart sank even lower at the fact that she would not even get to see Skull from across the cafeteria. Once they were dismissed, Tsuna turned to her new partner, determined to do better than last time she’d gone through this process.

“Do you speak any other languages?” She demanded, and he looked taken aback by her question.

“I do. I speak Japanese, French, English, Arabic, Dutch, and a few others.” He admitted, then “Why?” he asked. Sirina sighed.

“Usually the adults all come from Italy, but we children come from all over the world. And Command isn’t big on explanations, or interpreters. Most of these kids have no idea where they are, or what’s going on. And they’ll get punished for anything they do ‘wrong’. So will I. So I’d prefer to explain things while we have the chance.” She explained with a sigh. “Please call everyone over so we can get this dealt with. You explain to the adults what I just told you, and I’ll make sure the kids are awake.” She ordered. The man blinked at her, seeming both amused and surprised.

“Are you my SIC (second-in-command) or something?” He asked mildly.

“Basically. I’m in charge of the kids like you’re in charge of the adults, only I answer to you, too, as do all the children.” She informed him bracingly. “Now, call the adults over, please?” She repeated, and with a shrug the man obeyed. While the adults were distracted, Tsuna went around waking up the others one-by-one. About 13 children in, a silver-haired boy noticed her waking the others up.

“Pssst!” He hissed at her from the bunk behind where she was working.

“What?!” She whispered back fiercely as she fed cloud flames into the knocked-out child on the bed in front of her to multiply how fast his body worked through the anesthesia.

“Don’t let anyone else see your Cloud flames! It’s against the law!” He whisper-shouted at her. Thankfully there was enough talking from the adults and background noise that his words were not heard by anyone else. And she was shielding with Mist flames so no one could hear them as soon as the word ‘Cloud’ escaped his mouth.

“It’s okay, I’m masking with Cloud flames no one outside the room can see or hear what I’m doing. They can’t hear our conversation, either. What flames do you have? I could use help waking all the children.” Tsuna informed him easily.

“Everything except Mist.” He informed her grumpily, giving her a look as though he expected her to make fun of him. To his obvious surprise, Tsuna perked up and beamed at him as she finished helping the child on the bed.

“Really?! I’ve never met another multiple flame before!” She said excitedly.

“You have multiple flames too?” He repeated in disbelief.

“Yeah. Three of them.” She agreed as she moved on to the next kid. “Come on, help me wake everyone up. We need to have a talk before the guards and Sergeant come back for us.” She ordered, and somewhat reluctantly the boy did as she asked. It went much faster with two of them helping, and soon enough all the children and adults were gathered together. She found out who spoke Italian first, and then had Colonello ask if anyone spoke the languages he spoke. Eventually they had everyone matched with a translator and Tsuna gave everyone the spiel about what would be expected of the children and the new partners.

Then she went through and got everyone’s names, ages, and languages they spoke. Tsuna paid special attention to both her new partner and the multiple-flame boy. The boy’s name was Hayato Gokudera, he was a year older than her at fourteen, and spoke a whopping thirteen languages! Her partner was Colonello (no last name), and he claimed to be sixteen. Her intuition blared **_lielielielielie_** on repeat, but Tsuna decided to take Colonello’s age at face-value. She didn’t know why he was pretending to be sixteen. Perhaps because he _looked_ like he was sixteen years old, despite having the air of a full-grown man? Tsuna just moved on mentally from those thoughts, knowing it’d bug her for a long time if she let it. As she was trying to move on, one of the adults spoke up.

“That’s all well and good, kid, but why should we care about some random child just because they were assigned to us? What’s to stop us from killing them and taking off?” The man grinned, showing way to many teeth. Tsuna snorted at him in disbelief.

“Didn’t they tell you?” She wondered idly, to confused looks from everyone else.

“Tell us what?” Colonello urged her gently. Tsuna reached back to feel the incisions along her neck. It probably just looked like she was rubbing her neck, though.

“We all have trackers and bombs implanted in us. There’s an underground wire surrounding the camp. If we try to tamper with any of them, or cross those lines, the trackers are activated. If they don’t think an individual is important enough, the bombs are too.” She replied solemnly.

“And we’re supposed to just ….what, take your word for it? Just because they convinced some _child_ that they’ve filled her with bombs…!” Laughed the same man. Tsuna looked the man straight in the eyes and stated flatly:

“I’ve seen it happen. Not in _my_ Squad, of course. Our Squad Leader wouldn’t have let it get that far. But I’ve seen a few others who’ve ignored the warnings, or messed up bad. There isn’t even any warning. There one minute, then …BOOM! And pieces raining down on anybody nearby. Shrapnel, too. One guy acted out while in formation, and when he blew, he took his entire Squad with him. Guess that’s why they’ve formed a new one, even though we had the full twelve only a month ago.” Several people shuddered violently.

“Besides, I won’t let you hurt the children. If you want to get yourself blown up, that’s your problem. But don’t try to take any of the rest of us down with you.” Tsuna ordered, head high and slightly flaring her Sky flames invisibly. She knew how to make sure people paid attention to her. Unfortunately Sky attraction and flames didn’t make people _like_ her. As this man proved.

“So I just need to take you out, huh?” He growled, and then tried to attack her just as the door opened again and the Sergeant walked in.

“Sargeant! This one’s gone insane!” Tsuna called from where the snarling man had her pinned to the floor. Almost instantly the man was flung away from her like one might toss a ragdoll. Tsuna looked up to find Colonello standing protectively over her, looking furious.

“What is wrong with you, Kora?!” Colonello demanded, as the guards flooded the room and several of them restrained the man.

“A very good question, 001561. Why _are_ you attacking 001404?” Sergeant Rici demanded of the insane man. The insane man just spat at the Sergeant.

“I was explaining why it isn’t a good idea to kill the other children and try to escape. He did not take the news about the bombs and trackers well. Nor about the rules. For some reason he seemed to think attacking me would let him escape.” Tsuna reported as she gingerly climbed to her feet. Her entire back was bruised now!

“Hmm. Perhaps a demonstration is in order, so no one else gets any bright ideas.” Sergeant Ricci mused before turning on his heel. “Fall-in! Guards, bring the dead weight.” He ordered. Hastily the Squad formed into ranks, with just the insane man’s new partner standing in the spot where they both should have been, and followed out into the yard. The insane man, now thrashing and yelling at the guards holding him, was dragged up in front of them all and then a ‘safe’ distance away. They chained him to a post there and as soon as the guards were back, the insane man exploded. Tsuna gritted her teeth and watched, despite feeling her stomach turn. Many of the other children couldn’t stomach the display, and they vomited as pieces what used to be the rebel rained down upon the Squad. A finger bounced off Tsuna’s head, and she grimaced, but stayed looking forward and in formation. The Sergeant watched each of the children and adults carefully, waiting for someone to step out of line. No one did, thankfully. Tsuna wasn’t looking forward to being punished so early. Especially since her burn from shortly after bonding with Skull was just starting to scar over and finish healing.

Once pieces of human stopped falling from the sky, the Sergeant and guards led her new Squad to lunch. Tsuna was disappointed to see she’d been right about not seeing Skull at lunch, but she did feel his fury through the bond shortly after sitting down and taking a bite. Tsuna promptly choked on the bite as it went down the wrong tube, and Colonello pounded her back until her airway cleared.

“Thanks.” She rasped at Colonello. Across the table, Gokudera poured a glass of water from a nearby pitcher and handed it too her. She nodded her thanks to the boy as she took the glass and gulped down the water. Finally feeling her throat soothe a little, she looked to Colonello in surprise. Deep blue flames moved from him to her throat, despite his hand being nowhere near her throat. The flames were obviously what caused the change, as the more flames he used, the better she felt.

“Rain.” She whispered in shock, and the man jerked as though he’d been caught doing something naughty.

“Ah, you can tell?” He murmured softly, and Tsuna rolled her eyes as she threw up a Mist shield so no one would know what they were talking about.

“I put up a Mist shield, they won’t hear us now. Yeah, I can see flames now. I went active from whatever injection they gave me shortly after I first got here. They give it to every kid, after they’ve been awake for awhile. They’ll probably give it to this group after lunch, when we go and get your clothes and things.” Tsuna informed them, looking pointedly at Gokudera when she said it.

“We….I think they’ve found a little bit of knowledge about flames somewhere, and they’re hunting for people with flames, trying to force them active. Just the children, though. We’re… _I’m_ not sure why? But I have a hunch that they’re hunting for Skies. Just child skies, though, because people are more malleable and controllable when we’re little.” Tsuna admitted. Both the boy and the man made disgusted faces.

“That’s…..disgusting!” The boy spat.

“Yeah, but so’s everything else they do here.” Tsuna replied matter-of-factly. Both guys had looks on their faces that said they were remembering the exploding man.

“Yeah.” Colonello agreed lowly. “Disgusting.”

“Anyways, I’ll shield you with Mist flames and make a double of you appear when they go to give injections, so make sure to step aside before they can get you.” Tsuna instructed Gokudera. The boy, bless him, nodded easily.

“Alright. So you know my flames, and we know he’s a Rain. What are yours? You said you have three?” Gokudera asked, and then quickly added “I’ve got all but Cloud” at Colonello’s interested look. Tsuna squirmed for a moment, Skull’s voice in her head telling her not to tell _anyone_ about her Sky flames, but these two called to her…and Skull did say she would need at least one Guardian of each flame type….

“I’ve got Mist, of course, and Cloud…”She began hesitantly, took a deep breath, and decided to go for it. “And Sky. But you absolutely can’t tell anybody.” She whispered in a rush, despite knowing no one could see or hear what she was saying.

“You’re a Sky?!” They both exclaimed, and Tsuna winced. Perhaps it’d be easier if she just showed them? So decided, Tsuna released the iron grip on her flames. Very quickly she found she’d underestimated both the Sky Attraction she put out, and how much they called to her own flames. Her flames burst out not in the small flame on the palm of her hand she’d meant to form, but rather from her entire body. Then her Sky flame split in half and swamped both Colonello and Gokudera. Colonello and Gokudera’s flames escaped their control and burst out around them as well, meeting her flames halfway and swamping her together. Tsuna’s mind spared a single thought to be grateful that she’d practiced her flames enough in the past year that the double-bonding didn’t make her pass out. Another single thought to how glad she was that no one else could see what was really happening between the three of them, and a third thought to needing food before it was taken from them.

“I’m honored!” Gokudera cried, tears trailing down his face. “I will be the _best_ guardian!” He promised, bowing frantically and so low he actually smacked his head on the table. Tsuna winced in second-hand pain.

“ _My Sky_.” Colonello whispered in awe, and Tsuna flushed.

“Mine.” Tsuna agreed, claiming them both. “I wasn’t expecting that. But I’m happy to have you both.” She admitted, before turning their attention to other matters. “I would love to cuddle up and have a big celebration like I’m told they do outside The Compound, but dinner’s about to end and they will take away our food if we don’t eat it. Hurry up and eat.” She ordered, quickly finishing up her own meal. She finished before both of the others, and found she still had a smaller portion than what was served her. She split the food between her two guys, noting that Gokudera could probably use more as well.

“Look, as soon as lunch’s over, they’re going to split us up.” Tsuna began abruptly, and both guys growled lowly at the very thought. Gokudera looked like he might vault over the table to get to her side, hands twitching for some sort of weapon he no longer had. Colonello pulled her into his side, eyes scanning all possible people for threats.

“No, listen. Listen!” Tsuna insisted, and her guardians calmed down as she flooded their bonds with Sky flames and focused her Sky Attraction on her so they had to pay attention to her.

“I’ll have Gokudera with me, so I won’t be unprotected. And….the reason they’re saying they split me up from my other Guardian was because we had trouble adjusting after we bonded. I don’t want to lose the two of you as well. We’ll be separated during most of the days, but we meet together every day for lunch and then again just before dinner, when we have until after the next day’s breakfast together.” Tsuna hurried to explain. A few tears fell down her cheeks as she told them about losing Skull…but she wiped them away impatiently. She didn’t have time to be all weepy right now.

“You sure this is what you want?” Colonello demanded.

“It’s the way it has to be.” Tsuna corrected.

“Alright. Well, no, it isn’t alright, but I’ll do as you say. My Sky.” Colonello’s somber words filled Tsuna’s heart with joy, as he agreed to follow her guidance and trust in her.

“I’ll do my best, Hime!” Gokudera crowed, and Tsuna nearly jumped out of her seat.

“Hime?!” She exclaimed.

“Of course you’re a Hime. You’re a Sky, and _my_ Sky at that!” Gokudera replied boisterously, and refused to let Tsuna talk him out of calling her that. All good things come to an end, though, and lunch was no different. Soon the Squad was ushered out to the yard once more and then separated into adults and children. The children went through the same first school-day as Tsuna had her first time through this ordeal, excepting that Tsuna was experienced and on-hand to help all the other children through the process. Gokudera was also at her side, helping to translate her explanations to all the children who didn’t speak Italian. He also sat next to her in class, since his partner was the adult standing to Colonello’s right when in formation. At the end of the day, Tsuna and the others trudged wearily into their barracks.

The children all pulled out their homework, except Tsuna who’d already done this homework before. She flew through the assigned sheets, then dropped down to look under her new bunk. It was a bunk sunk into the wall, just like before. To Tsuna’s joy, she found her instruments lined up in a neat row just behind their clothing trunk. Tsuna wiggled under the bunk and back to where she could grab her violin case.

“What are you doing down there, kora?” Colonello laughed at her. Tsuna ignored him, choosing instead to carefully wiggle her way back out, one hand under the violin case so it wouldn’t drag on the ground. When she finally got free of the bunk, she sprung up to her feet, showing her case to Colonello triumphantly. She wanted to show Gokudera, too, but he was busy helping translate Italian lessons to those children who needed them. With a happy little sigh, Tsuna got her violin out and sat on the bed. After making sure it was still tuned correctly, Tsuna set the bow down on the strings and gently drew it across. The first note came out clear and sweet, and Tsuna felt her flames flow gently down the bow, into the strings, and then resonate through the air in the notes. For some reason Tsuna’s flames always slipped into her music, helping to harmonize the place where she played and the people she played for. Not enough to bind them to her as guardians, but enough to make things peaceful and places feel like home. Tsuna quickly got lost in the music, forgetting that this was a new Squad who’d never heard her play before. Not noticing how everyone quieted and watched her in wonder.

Her song had no real title, nor was it anything Command or the Teachers had taught her. This song she simply called ‘Home of the Sky’, and it was a reflection of everything she felt at the time poured into beautiful, _harmonious_ song.

When she finally felt done, a few hours later, she lowered her violin slowly and blinked open her eyes. Only to jump a foot into the air as uproarious applause and amazed faces filled her ears and vision.

“Hieeee!!!” She shrieked in surprise, and then recovered and mumbled shyly: “Ah…thank you?” while hurrying to put her violin away.

“Hime! That was amazing! I didn’t know you play violin!” Gokudera cried as he suddenly appeared at her elbow.

“Hieee!” She shrieked again in surprise. One hand gripped her chest above her heart. “You startled me!” She cried at Gokudera, who flushed slightly but wouldn’t be deterred in praising her.

“Really, you play really well! What song was that, I haven’t heard it before…?” He pressed, and Tsuna flushed deeper.

“Ah, it wasn’t really a song, just something I made up. I’m glad everyone likes it, though. All the children in my old Squad had to learn to play at least one instrument. The Teachers said I have a knack for it, though, and they keep teaching me new ones every so often.” Tsuna explained shyly before starting to ramble a little.

“Do you play all of them as well as you do the violin?” Colonello asked interestedly. Tsuna shrugged.

“I guess? I mean, it’s not like I have much to compare it too. I do better than most of the kids in my old Squad. Excepting those who already played an instrument before being Here. You should hear Giuseppe play the trumpet, or Alexandre play the clarinet.” Tsuna sighed wistfully. “So beautiful. And sometimes we’d play as a Duet or Trio….” Tsuna knew there was probably a dreamy look on her face, but she couldn’t help it. She really loved music, and she especially loved music play _well_ and with passion. She felt a mild wave of jealousy from Gokudera, so she wasn’t entirely surprised at his next words.

“I play the Piano already, and people say I’m pretty good. Would you consent to playing duets with me, Hime?” He begged. Tsuna smiled at him.

“Of course. I play with everyone who wants to. I love music. And music with flames is even better.” She agreed happily. Tsuna gave Gokudera one of her patented ‘Sky Smiles’, the kind which had a tiny trickle of Mist in it that made sparkles and hearts appear all around her and the Sky flames made it impossible to look away. Gokudera looked like he’d died and gone to heaven, and Tsuna spent the next half hour with Gokudera fawning all over her while Colonello laughed at her from nearby.

* * *

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

* * *

* * *

## Chapter 3

Lal Mirch was a calm, logical sort of person. Instead of panicking when Colonello didn’t check-in, she searched his assigned quarters to find out where he might have gone. True …. Colonello was on leave and could do what he wanted with his free time … however he also always at least called to see what she was up to. To go so long without contact was more than unusual. So she barged her way into his quarters and searched the place. Unfortunately she didn’t find much she didn’t already know. Her first piece of information had come from Colonello himself, a few months ago. During this leave Colonello had planned to visit with a friend of his. A non-COMSUBIN, non-army, non-any sort of armed forces friend. Which was strange to Lal. Because while Colonello had many acquaintances and was friendly enough, he didn’t have a lot of close friends. Let alone ones he was close enough to travel to visit. He’d left on a Sunday, grinning that stupid cheerful smile of his, and Lal heard neither hide nor hair of him since. No one she talked to had heard from him, either.

The second thing she learned was that Colonello had taken his rifle with him, his field pack, and his clothes. The last two could, at a stretch, be described as Colonello taking his clothing and needing something to pack it in. The rifle, though, never left the base unless they were on a mission or being reassigned. All of Colonello’s other personal effects were still there, so Lal knew Colonello had meant to return and not simply deserted. She kept looking, but she didn’t really have a bunch of contacts outside the military who would help her track him down. And reporting a missing person from the Army to civilian policemen was _NOT ALLOWED._

Finally, the day the two of them were set to deploy on their latest mission, Lal had to stop looking and bring the matter up with their superior.

“Sir, I regret to report that the Colonello is missing.” Lal informed the man.

“Missing?” The man repeated in surprise.

“Yes, Sir. He left to visit a friend for his leave, and sometime after that dropped out of contact. We have a no loss-of-contact rule, Sir.” Lal repeated flatly.

“Give me an hour, I’ll see what I can find.” Her superior promised. The words brought some comfort to Lal. Their superior, Arnold, was famous for watching out for those under his command. If anyone could find Colonello, it would be Arnold and his contacts. Lal went to the shooting range to while away an hour. When the hour was over, Lal marched herself back into her superior’s office, to find him having a heated argument on the phone.

“What do you mean **reassigned**?!” He barked just as Lal entered the room. Lal blanched a little at the very words. She hoped he wasn’t referring to Colonello, but didn’t think she’d be that lucky. Arnold looked up and noticed Lal standing before his desk. Irritably, he gestured her towards the chairs, and Lal took a seat silently.

“Look, you can’t just reassign one of my people without the proper authorizations and paperwork! And you certainly can’t take them without **notifying me**!” Arnold continued. “Yes, there _is_ a problem! He was scheduled to deploy today on a time sensitive mission, and there’s no one to replace him!” There was a moment of silence, during which Lal noticed the man had started to turn red. “Yes, I understand you want the best people, but you still can’t just take my soldier without…!” The conversation went back and forth like that for another thirty minutes before her superior finally hung up. He glared at the phone for a moment before turning his attention to Lal.

“ _Apparently_ ,” Arnold sneered “Colonello has been _reassigned,_ by order of the General. No, don’t ask me which one, there were several.” Her superior leaned back in his chair, looking suddenly older. “Some sort of deep-cover dark op. Need-to-know only, and apparently we don’t. Need to know, that is.” He grumbled. “Looks like your mission is scrapped for now. And you’ll be getting a new partner, of course. What a mess. Your on leave until further notice while I try to sort out a new partner and member for your team.” Arnold informed her tiredly. Lal winced.

“Understood.” She replied immediately.

“You didn’t hear this from me, but this whole thing is fishy as ****. I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to use this time to see if you could track down your boyfriend and make sure he’s alright. As long as I don’t hear any complaints, I don’t care what you do with your leave.” Arnold mused, looking up idly at the ceiling.

“Understood.” She repeated.

“Dismissed, Mirch.” Arnold ordered, and Lal stood before saluting and leaving the office. Now, where could she find someone to help her track down her wayward student and partner…?

* * *

About a month later, Lal’s temper was shot and she’d resorted to using less than above-board contacts to try and locate her student. He hadn’t shown up anywhere in the world that any of her friends or acquaintances could find, nor had he made contact with his family (who were also getting concerned). Which was why she’d stooped to meeting in a dingy back-alley pub with an underworld information broker who was said to be able to locate anyone. Or at least, she would be, if they were on time. The seedy surroundings didn’t make her temper or instincts any easier to control either. Just as she thought that, hand moving to the butt of the gun under her jacket, a person in a cloak slid into the booth opposite Lal.

“Mou, time is money. I’m told you wanted to locate someone? My fees aren’t cheap.” The androgynous person commented seriously.

“How much?” Lal immediately demanded. Money wasn’t a problem. Even if she herself couldn’t afford his price, she knew Colonello’s parents were loaded and they’d promised to spare no expense helping her locate their wayward son. Still, that didn’t mean she couldn’t haggle a little…

“Fifty-thousand Euros for a finders fee, and ten trillion if I’m required to help with acquiring the target or neutralizing them.” The cloaked person immediately stated.

“Don’t be ridiculous. A thousand Euros for locating them, since all you have to do is sneeze on some paper, and I’ll pay a Trillion if I need you to pick him up for me. I don’t want him dead.” She counter-offered.

“That’s an insult to both myself and my business. You couldn’t get a gang child to locate someone for that price, let alone the best in the business like myself. A Trillion finders fee, and eight trillion if retrieval is necessary.” The cloaked person retorted. Lal weighed the pros and cons before nodding.

“Fine, half the finders fee now, half once he’s found, half before rescue if necessary, and half after successful escape.” She bargained. The information broker reached out a hand and Lal met them halfway in a handshake.

“Lal Mirch, pleasure to work with you.” She greeted.

“Viper. I will need the name of the person to locate them.” The information broker replied solemnly.

“He goes by Colonello.” She replied instantly. Viper nodded their head, pulled a piece of old-world-style parchment out and sneezed on it. Whatever they saw on the parchment seemed to take them aback, as they paused for a long moment before stating simply:

“I will need to direct you to the location. It seems the place is being hidden somehow. I could tell you where it is, but you wouldn’t find it without my help.” The person sighed.

That was how, about a week later, Lal found herself looking down on some sort of military compound with the information specialist at her side. Lal’s molars ground together as she watched what were obviously prisoners of some sort doing some sort of exercise down below them. Colonello was among one of the groups, and there were lots of children present as well. Some of them were even wielding guns. The information specialist didn’t seem to happy either.

“Mou, there is someone attempting to sneak up on us. Shall I dispose of them for you?” Viper offered idly. Lal snarled under her breath before turning to find a tall, skinny man in a ridiculous white lab coat of all things was indeed attempting to sneak up on them from behind.

“Let’s see what the man wants, first. Maybe make sure he can’t hurt us?” She replied with a sigh.

“You might as well introduce yourself!” Lal called to the man in the lab coat, who froze upon being spotted.

“How did you see me?” The man demanded incredulously as he straightened up and stalked towards them.

“You’re wearing a brilliant white lab coat and surrounded by greenery. It wasn’t hard.” Lal replied dryly while Viper said

“I’m a better Mist than you are. And you’re now in my temporary territory.” Lal blinked at Viper, then shook her head.

“I really aught to have guessed you are a Mist.” She murmured to Viper, who smirked under their hood.

“I’ve been shielding us from discovery this entire time. It’s only because that slob is obviously not apart of whatever’s going on down below that I allowed him to see or hear us at all.” Viper replied with pride. Before Lal could comment, the other man had reached them.

“Are you a part of whatever that nastiness down there is?” The man asked tersely. Lal shook her head.

“No, I came to rescue my friend, but now I’m thinking we might need an army….I don’t think we can leave those other people there. It’s obvious they’re being treated inhumanely.” Lal sighed. The lab coated man nodded sharply.

“I’m here to rescue my ward. Name’s Doctor Trident Shamal.” He replied tersely. “Count me in.” He added, in case his answer hadn’t been clear enough.

“Lal Mirch, and this is Viper. Now, where to find an army…” Lal mused as she turned back to face the compound below them.

“I know a man who can help. But it will cost you for that information.” Viper replied slyly. Lal rolled her eyes but impatiently motioned for Viper to continue.

“Of course. Who is it?”

“They call him Sinclair, the World’s Best Hitman. He recently took up training mafia heirs and likes to give them ridiculous challenges. His current student, Dino Cavallone has a lot of people under his command and could use a few lessons on battle, from what I understand. Would you like me to make the introductions?” Viper offered.

“For a fee, of course.” Lal remarked dryly.

“Of course.” Viper agreed easily. Lal sighed wearily again and nodded.

“We’ll need the help.” She agreed. It was a sentence she would regret and be grateful for in the years to follow.

* * *

A few months after bonding with her newest elements, Tsuna’s life changed again. Drills like this weren’t uncommon, so at first Tsuna didn’t think much about the commotion. The intruder sirens started blaring, and the Teacher immediately ordered the children to stay put. He left the room, locking it from the outside, ostensibly to find the principal and get his own orders. Tsuna quickly marshalled the children into creating a defensible position. They piled their desks up around the teacher’s large wooden desk, grabbed every possibly-stabby implement they could find, and hunkered down behind the U-shaped structure. Most of the children ended up with rulers, pens, and pencils clutched in hand. That was all they had, really, since they weren’t given many items that could be used as weapons. Tsuna set a few of the more enterprising children to building garrotes made of shoelaces tied together, with orders to hide the garrotes in their pockets when the drill was over. She didn’t want the guards to realize their shoelaces could be dangerous, after all. They would take the shoelaces away.

Gokudera crouched next to Tsuna, helping her keep watch on the door. There was only one door in or out, and no windows. Tsuna had given considerable thought to seeing if the ceiling tiles could be popped out and the children could hide up there, but she’d decided to leave that for last resort.

About ten minutes later, the door burst open and Colonello raced in. Seeing her peeking over the desk, his shoulders slumped in relief and he closed the door behind himself. Tsuna heard the click of the door re-locking itself once her Rain was through.

“Nello…” She whispered softly, feeling so happy he was there, with her. Despite knowing it was all a drill, she couldn’t help wishing Skull was there as well during this dangerous time.

“Kora, Stellina (Hey, Little Star).” He greeted back. “I’m glad to see you’re alright.” He added as he came around the structure and scooped Tsuna up into his arms. Tsuna hugged him tightly, burying her face into his chest.

“Colonello?” One of the other children asked tremulously. “Where are our partners?” Colonello turned to face the little five year old.

“They were right behind me, but Command was sending all soldiers to the nearest barracks, so I don’t know if they’ll make it before the drill is over.” Colonello told the child solemnly. “But we Squad Leaders will look out for you until your partners make it back.” He promised the children. Many of the youngest children crowded around him at his promise. They either huddled next to him or clutched at handfuls of his clothing. Tsuna gently disentangled herself from her Nello until she could stand next to him. Some of the youngest children transferred themselves to Tsuna and Hayato moved to stand on the other side of Tsuna from Colonello.

“Everyone else stay ducked down. I’ll watch for trouble, alright?” Colonello urged, and Tsuna pouted at him but followed his directions along with everyone else. A good forty to forty-five minutes passed this way, some of the children growing restless, when Tsuna felt the door open. In the next moment Colonello seemed to disappear right before her eyes. Not only did he disappear form her sight, he also disappeared from where she normally felt his bond. She screamed at the pain of the missing bond.

“Nello?!” She called desperately and lashed out with her Mist flames in an attempt to locate him. Next to her Hayato moved into position between her and where Colonello had been, getting ready to defend her with Storm flames if necessary. Forget Omerta, they could die!

* * *

It turned out that securing the agreement of the World’s Best Hitman and his student wasn’t hard to do. She’d thought there’d be a lot of haggling of prices involved, like with Viper, but all she’d really had to do was explain what they’d seen of the prisoner’s condition and imprisonment, and Dino Cavallone did all the convincing for them. He’d mobilized his people and supplies in record time, his dark hitman tutor shooting at the boy whenever the man felt the Cavallone wasn’t moving fast enough. It still took another week and a half after they reached the meeting place to get back to the compound in question.

Viper, working in conjunction with the other Mists (both Shamal and the Cavallone Mists) to hide them all from sight as they surrounded the compound. She’d like to say that after all the work she’d put in tracking down Colonello and preparing to attack, that the take-over of the compound was simple by comparison. Unfortunately, no battle could ever really be called simple. Their attacking force split up into groups, while Lal teamed up with Shamal to search the Compound for their missing people as soon as they could enter. Viper stayed back with the reinforcements and kept the illusion going along with a few other Mists. Lal tuned out the screaming, shouting, and sounds of gunfire as soon as the attack started, firing her own weapons at anyone not on their team who got in her way. This did not, thankfully, seem to include any of the prisoners. She wanted to help free them, of course, but she wouldn’t hesitate to shoot them too if they tried to fight her.

It took them about an hour to breech the defenses of the camp, during the first thirty minutes she saw the adult prisoners running around like headless chickens, and then the guards forcefully dragged all the prisoners into the nearest buildings. Or at least, that was what it looked like from where Lal was trying to help breach one of the gates. Finally they got inside, Lal and Shamal immediately making their way to the closest building and beginning a sweeping search. Shamal kept them covered in Mist so no one noticed them coming or going.

Lal and Shamal worked in tandem to kill any enemy guards they came across. Any scientists they found were left alive, but unconscious and tied up. They’d need someone to question, after all. Any prisoners Lal left where they were. They were safer locked up for the moment than if they tried to join in the chaos outside. Building after building they searched, helping to clear the way for their allies behind them. She’d begun to think maybe Colonello had been killed while she was away, and could tell from the grim slant of Shamal’s lips that he’d thought something similar when they entered a large building and came into a gym. Exiting into the other side, she found herself in a school. She could see every door was locked, but they all had windows so the invisible duo could look inside the rooms. She was down the middle of the second hallway they’d searched when she looked through a window and found all the desks piled up to create a defensive shelter and Colonello’s distinctive hair and eyes peering suspiciously over the top.

“Shamal!” She whisper-hissed at the Mist, and he immediately turned from where he’d been peering through a window on the other side of the hall. “I’ve found my guy.” With a nod, Shamal joined her. He quickly withdrew a lockpick set from the pocket of his lab coat and the door was opened only a few moments later. The two entered the room carefully, despite being invisible. “Make it so Colonello is the only one who can see me besides you.” She ordered, and Shamal wiggled his fingers mockingly at her. She could tell the instant the Mist flames extended to include Colonello, because his eyes widened comically at the sight of her.

“Lal?!” He exclaimed at the same time as a piercing scream split the air.

“Nello!” A little girl’s voice shrieked, and then she felt as much as saw Shamal’s illusion get ripped to shreds by a more powerful mist. The Doctor staggered as they both became visible and Lal tensed as the unknown’s Mist flames headed right towards their position. She flared her own Rain flames into the air around herself and Shamal, attempting to slow or stop the Mist flames altogether. To her shock, the unknown person’s Mist flames seem to pass through her Rain flames as if they weren’t there. She didn’t even feel them connect.

“It’s okay, Stellina, kora!” She heard Colonello hurriedly announce. “A friend of mine has come to rescue us, I think.” He added, and the Mist flames paused mere centimeters from her and Shamal’s skin. Both adults quickly backed away from the threatening Mist flames.

“Are you sure, Nello? They’ve got a Mist. It could be anybody under an illusion to look like someone you trust.” The little girl from earlier complained.

“I was just trying to keep us safe from the cameras watching us, and in case any guards wanted to sneak up behind us.” Shamal informed the child grumpily as he straightened his lab coat.

“Shamal?” A young boy asked incredulously, and the most shaggy and shiny silver hair Lal had ever seen popped up above the blockade. The boy’s narrow green eyes locked onto Shamal and narrowed even more suspiciously.

“Hayato.” Shamal breathed, seeming relieved.

“Prove it’s you, then. How many sisters do you have?” the child demanded. Shamal winced but answered quickly.

“62.” He replied dryly.

“That’s a lot of sisters!” The lisping voice of a little boy gasped.

“Can you imagine 62 Himes-nee-sans?!” Another tiny boy’s voice asked in awe. There was a momentary pause and then a bunch of boy’s voices saying “Wow” or some variation thereof.

“It’s Shamal.” Gokudera informed the others dryly.

“You have 62 sisters?” Lal hissed disbelievingly at the man from the side of her mouth, eyes still on Colonello.

“No.” He replied tersely. “It was a misunderstanding when he was younger. I’ve had a lot of … girlfriends.” Lal snorted at his answer.

“Guess this means it wasn’t another drill, then.” The little girl’s voice piped up.

“Probably not, Stellina.” Colonello agreed. “Hurry up and get back here, you two. I’m not taking the kids out there while there’s fighting going on.” Colonello threw over his shoulder at Lal and Shamal. Which is how the two adults found themselves crouched behind the defensive wall, being stared at by eighteen children and glared at by two more.

There was only one girl in the group besides Lal. The girl, who looked to be a preteen of some age, had her arms wrapped around Colonello’s waist possessively and was glaring at the two adults. The boy with the messy silver hair stood slightly in front of the girl but slightly to the side so she could still see the newcomers. He, too, was glaring at them.

“Took you long enough, old man.” The silverette grumped at the Doctor. Shamal shrugged as he took a cigarette out of his pocket and put it in his mouth.

“Had to get allies before I could destroy whoever’s in charge of this ****hole.” Shamal countered as he lit up the cigarette.

“No cancer-sticks around the children.” The little girl declared, and the Mist gave her a deadpan look.

“Kid, I’ll smoke if I want to.” He sighed with a roll of his eyes.

“Haya.” The girl commanded, and pointed at the cigarette. The silverette snapped to attention at the sound of her voice.

“Yes, Hime!” He shouted, and then before anyone else could blink, the boy was in Shamal’s face, grabbing the Cigarette and then he was moving away. He crushed the cigarette in his hand, and she noted his other hand had two packs of cigarettes and a lighter. Apparently he’d also picked Shamal’s pocket. He presented the stolen items to the girl, who beamed at the boy and took the items before stuffing them into a pocket on Colonello’s cargo pants at his knee.

“Thank you, Haya.” She praised, and the boy turned cherry red. Shamal, who looked absolutely stunned, turned a calculating look on the little girl.

“Haya, huh?” He murmured softly, and the boy in question immediately turned a fierce glare on the man.

“Only Hime gets to call me Haya, old man!” he declared fiercely. Shamal chuckled.

“I’ve missed so much of your growing up. You’re even interested in girls, now! Why, just yesterday you wouldn’t even notice if a girl spoke to you. And now you’re trying to win one over…” Shamal sighed, pretending to wipe a tear from his eye. Except that there suddenly was a glistening tear on the end of his finger. Lal felt the tiny flicker of Mist flame that had formed the tear, and then suddenly Mist flames lashed out from the girl and destroyed the construct.

“Hey!” Shamal yelped. “We’re on the same side!” He complained.

“I don’t trust you. You took ‘Nello away!” The little girl growled, stomping one foot and pointing at the man dramatically. Lal held back the urge to laugh at the display and Shamal’s flabbergasted look. To her further amusement, Colonello seemed to be laughing silently at the Doctor as well, if the twinkling of his eyes were anything to go by. He also didn’t seemed to be inclined to help the man out. Lal wondered why he wasn’t scolding the little girl, but shrugged the thought aside.

_“How long will we have to wait for the reinforcements to reach us?”_ She wondered idly.

* * *

Like most of the soldiers, Skull was out on a training field with the rest of the adults in his Squad when the alarm went off. They’d had drills like this before, but the gunfire that followed soon after the alarm was not normal. Sergeant Romano and the guards immediately began ushering the Squad back towards the barracks, which made Skull frown. Normally they were supposed to collect their charges before taking shelter wherever they could. Which meant this probably wasn’t a drill…

He met eyes with some of the other men and jerked his head towards the school building. They nodded, and Skull turned sharply to head towards the school building. If something was going down, he belonged with his Sky. He had been keeping a sharp look out, but she hadn’t been present during any of the meals. None of the kids in his Squad at seen her at assemblies in school, either. He could still feel their bond pulsing strongly, so he knew she was okay. But she may not stay that way if Skull couldn’t get to her. He knew she’d taken two other guardians, as he’d felt the echo of two other bonds since shortly after she’d been taken away, but he couldn’t rely on people he didn’t know to protect his Tesoro. The guards started to come after the Squad, all of whom were following Skulls lead like they’d been trained, but men in suits wielding guns and other improbable weapons (like whips and forks) intercepted the guards and the Sergeant.

“Come this way! We’re here to free you!” The large blond youth wielding the whip called to Skull and his comrades. His Squad immediately looked to Skull, who nodded grimly.

“Go with him. I’ve got to find Hime!” Skull ordered.

“We’ll come with you.” Greco immediately denied, but Skull sent him a look.

“I can’t have you there. I’ll be fine, but I need you all to go with our rescuers. Just don’t let them take you outside the gate. We’ll figure out what to do about the explosives and trackers after the fighting’s over.” Skull snarled, and Greco backed off with his hands in the air. By this time the men in suits had almost surrounded the Squad and were forcing the Guards and Sergeant back. The guards had also gotten reinforcements, however, and it was starting to break down into one-on-one close-up fighting.

“Hurry up, we’ve got a fall-back position where you’ll be safe!” The blond called. At Skull’s commanding look, the rest of his Squad moved to follow three men in suits the blond ordered to take them to safety. Skull had turned to head deeper into the Compound when someone gripped his arm.

“You should be going with the others.” Skull heard a deep voice instruct as he looked up and found a tall, slender man in a suit and fedora accented with a golden band on the hat. There was also….was that a chameleon riding on his hat.

“Chaos. The lizard is leon.” The man continued, as though he could read Skulls mind. “I’m Sinclair, the World’s Best Hitman, and You are going to safety with the others.” He added. Skull sighed and twisted his arm out of the Hitman’s surprisingly strong grip. Meanwhile the blond youth had joined them.

“We can’t leave the compound. Our bodies are loaded with explosives and trackers, or we’d have all escaped already. It hasn’t escaped our notice that we outnumber the captors ten to one.” Skull informed the two men dryly. “I wouldn’t stand to close to any of us before you’ve found the detonator remotes and deactivated them. Command won’t hesitate to blow all of us prisoners sky-high if it’ll wipe you lot out.” He warned. The Hitman’s eyes narrowed on him.

“Are the others that were just led away safe to leave the compound?” The Hitman demanded. Skull shook his head.

“It’s alright, I gave them orders not to step over the underground fencing, they won’t trigger the bond themselves. So long as your men don’t try to drag them over that line, they’ll all be fine.” Skull replied simply.

“Very well, then you will fall back to where your comrades are while we finish taking over this place.” The Hitman reluctantly changed his orders.

“Sorry,” Skull denied with a grin that was more a bearing of teeth than anything else “but I can’t wait for you lot. Too slow. And I have my own mission.” Skull added. “Meanwhile, you might want to come up with a way to deactivate all our explosives before one of the other sites blows us and the compound up anyways. Command likes to have redundant precautions in place to stop people like you from liberating the Compounds.” Skull suggested before he twisted around and sprinted towards where he thought the children met for school. Someone behind him cursed, but neither followed him.

Suddenly a feeling of absolute _fury_ raged over him, knocking him breathless for a moment. The feeling came directly from his bond, and Skull hurried faster at the thought of what could have upset his Tesoro so. Skull raced into the building he thought was the school, and was pleased to see he was right. After searching the entire building, however, he did not find Tsuna. He did, however, find the children of his Squad. He quickly opened the door.

“Come on, kids. Time to go.” Skull ordered, and the children immediately raced to his side from behind a pile of furniture.

_“Tesoro. Lend me some of your Mist.”_ He pleaded mentally through their bond, and felt a spring of Mist flames well up inside him, coming from their bond. _“Thank you._ ” He thought. Carefully, Skull crafted an illusion that would keep the kids and himself invisible from anyone except other prisoners and their rescuers. Quickly he ran with the kids back to where the invaders were stashing anyone prisoners they found.

“Join with the rest of the Squad, I still have to find Hime.” Skull directed once they were in sight of the large crowd.

“Yes, Squad Leader!” The children chorused as they continued running in the direction of their adults. Skull’s new ‘partner’ hesitated for a moment between following the other children or staying with Skull. “Go.” Skull ordered gently, and the boy nodded solemnly.

“Stay safe, Skull.” The boy offered before he raced to catch up with the others. Once the children were safely with the rest of the Squad, Skull removed the illusion over the children and started to do a thorough sweep of every building. He kept himself invisible while searching. He didn’t have time to get into fights the rescuers could handle themselves. To his surprise, all of the men in the buildings he searched were already tied up and knocked out. It looked like someone was ahead of him in the search. He increased his pace frantically, and eventually he finally entered a building that looked like the first school he’d searched.

To his dismay, all the doors were opened and there were no children in the building. Someone else had reached the school first. A boiling rage started low in his gut. The Guards better not have tried to use his Tesoro as a hostage, he thought grimly. Or else he would bowl through them like a bowl in a china shop on his way to his Tesoro. When Skull finished searching the building, he stepped outside to find all sounds of fighting had stopped. He retraced his steps to find most of the prisoners and children gathered with his own Squad. He started to make his way through the group, searching, when he suddenly felt terror ice down his spine, coming from his bond.

“To me!” He heard his Tesoro cry, the sound both terrifying and wonderful. It had been so long since he’d heard her voice. He could feel the command of the Sky flames infusing her voice just like they did when she sang or played an instrument. Everyone else in the vicinity immediately moved as close to the source of that voice as they could. “Down!” Tsuna cried, and everyone dropped to the dirt instinctively, even those who didn’t know her. He was amused to note that their rescuers were also following her lead.

A giant bubble of Rain, Mist, Cloud, and Sky flames formed around all of them. The bubble completely surrounded everyone, even separating them from the ground. The bubble had just finished covering them all when the world went orange, red, and dirt colored as the Compound exploded. Skull was just grateful the bombs inside of everyone didn’t go up as well. The explosion seemed to go on for ages, and Skull noted absently that there were several more explosion going off after the main one stopped. Eventually the explosions stopped, and a short time later the air cleared of dust. There were still pieces of flaming architecture lying scattered around, but at least they could see their surroundings now. The bubble didn’t go away, however. Skull was one of the few people to stand, the others waiting to see if any more explosions would go off after a short delay. Quickly Skull moved to where Tsuna’s voice had come from.

In that same area a small group of people stood up. He only had eyes for his Tesoro, though. He found her tucked under the arm of his friend Colonello, sitting on his hip like she was four and not a cute young thirteen and a half year old.

“Tsuna!” He called as he got close, catching both Tsuna and Colonello’s attention. Skull ignored the woman and the young boy who both attempted to stand between Colonello and Skull. Tsuna dashed around the pair and towards Skull, reaching out towards him frantically.

“Skull!” She cried in joy. Skull grinned wildly as he swung her up into the air and spun her around.

“Tesoro!” He exclaimed in happiness before pulling her down and into his chest. “ _Tesoro.”_ He whispered reverently, stoking her shaking back.

“I missed you so much!” She cried into him.

“I missed you too.” He reassured her. Colonello and the boy walked up to the small reunion.

“I take it you’re her first guardian?” Colonello asked dryly.

“I am.” Skull replied guardedly.

“The brat and I are her second guardians.” Colonello informed Skull. At Colonello’s words, Tsuna twisted slightly in Skull’s arms so she could see all three of them.

“You know my Nello, Skull?” She asked in amazement.

“Yes. We’ve been friends since we were teenagers. Practically grew up together.” Skull confirmed.

“Good, then I know you’ll get along. And this is my Haya. Haya, this is my Skull.” Tsuna asserted.

“You can call me Hayato or Gokudera. Only Hime gets to call me Haya.” The silver-haired boy informed Skull. Skull wanted to laugh at the warning he saw in the boy’s eyes. That one was probably a classic Storm, he thought.

“I am Renato Sinclair, the World’s Best Hitman, and this is my Student Dino Cavallone.” The hitman from earlier interrupted from slightly to the side. As one their group turned to regard the newcomers. “I believe you said the bodies of all prisoners contain bombs as well…? Should they not have also exploded?” the hitman prodded. Tsuna nodded.

“Of course they _should have_. But Nello’s putting out enough Rain flame to bury a continent in. The signal is molasses-slow right now. We’ll still need someone to remove and/or deactivate the bombs before we can let the shield down.” Tsuna replied gravely. The hitman pulled an unhappy face, while the blond in the background wailed about exploding people.

“Hello, Dino nii-san. I’m Tsuna, and these three are my guardians. Thank you for coming to rescue us.” Tsuna called to the blond man, who immediately stopped flailing around and came to stand before the little group. He was also blushing beet red from the roots of his hair down his neck.

“Nii-san?” He asked in flattered surprise. “Like your big brother?” He wondered. Tsuna smiled her special ‘Sky smile’ at him.

“Uh-huh. Cause you’re like me, but all grown up! Plus you came to save us!” Tsuna cheered while sparkles and hearts appeared all around her. Her smile seemed to work just as well on Dino and the Hitman as it did on everyone else.

“Glad to help. Reborn, what’s the word for little sister in Japanese?!” Dino mumbled, still blushing, before turning to hiss the last bit at his tutor.

“Look it up, clumsy-Dino! I’m not a dictionary!” His tutor scolded. Tsuna giggled.

“The word you’re looking for is imouto!” Tsuna told the man brightly. Dino blushed a brighter red at her words.

“Then, I would be honored to consider you my imouto, Tsuna-Hime!” Dino cried exuberantly, giving her a perfect ninety-degree bow from the waist. Tsuna blushed at the bow but clapped happily.

“Wonderful. Now perhaps you would like to fix the problem that could kill your new imouto and her guardians?” Sinclair drawled sarcastically, and Dino flinched.

“Yes! At once!” Dino exclaimed loudly, then paused as he seemed to realize he had no idea how to go about doing that.

“I could introduce you to a technological and scientific genius who could not doubt fix the explosive problem for you. For a price.” A new voice offered, and Skull shuddered when he realized someone had snuck up on them without him realizing it.

* * *

“Of course.” Lal Mirch responded dryly. “I’ll cover the expense. Please contact that person and have him come as soon as possible. For obvious reasons these people cannot leave this bubble.” Lal conceded immediately. She wasn’t going to waste time haggling when Colonello could be blown up! She did kind of want to snicker at the looks on everyone’s face except her own, Shamals, and of course Sinclair’s. They seemed torn between surprise and anger. Then the little Sky surprised Lal again.

“Thank you for your help, Mist-san!” Tsuna chirped at the information broker. She gave the person one of her smiles. The kind of smile that seemed to charm everyone and so far only not been directed at Lal and Shamal (apparently the kid could hold a grudge). It apparently worked just as well on secretive, miserly Mists.

“Mou, I am being paid to help. Your thanks are unnecessary.” Viper responded at length. The little girl’s smile upped in wattage, somehow getting brighter. More sparkles appeared as well.

“But not unwelcome?” She asked slyly. Lal Mirch wondered what Viper was seeing that caused them to fidget in response to the girl’s shy adoration.

* * *

Viper stared down at the cute little baby Mist, who had just hopped down from her guardians arms. Viper was aware the child was also a Sky, but to a fellow Mist the Mist flames were always the first thing they noticed. The little Mist staring up at them and beaming adorably. The Mist background was a rather nice touch, Viper noted. Especially since not many would have been able to get away with something so cutesy. Somehow the little girl pulled it off. Absently Viper wondered if the little girl had a teacher for her Mist flames yet? As he thought this, Viper was startled to note the girl’s smile increasing in brightness and Sky flame-effects. There were also more sparkles in the air. Viper twitched, trying to still his own Mist flames from reaching out and poking at the girl’s flames. Carrying on a conversation while musing about other things wasn’t hard for even a mediocre Mist, and Viper was far from mediocre.

“But not unwelcome?” The little girl shyly asked, and Viper had to restrain the urge to pat the girl on the head. How cute!

“Not entirely.” They admitted, as a reward. They could hear some choked-off laughter in the background, and they turned a glare on Sinclair. They would be raising their prices for him. No one laughed at Viper. Seemingly sensing Viper’s attention was distracted, the little girl raised her arms to Viper in the universal ‘pick me up’ sign of little children. A small part of Viper’s mind congratulated the girl on pulling that move off and looking small and innocent enough to get away with it. Especially since she was really to old for that sort of thing. Viper concluded it must have been an extremely subtle use of Mist flames that made the girl seem younger and smaller so that the move seemed natural. It was a little galling that Viper couldn’t detect the flames while they were working, though. Viper was so distracted by his thoughts, that he didn’t really register the question of :

“Mine?” The little girl hummed at him. Naturally Viper picked the child up. Just to get closer and see if he could detect the Mist flames in use from up close. The girl took this as agreement, though, and a roiling tornado of Sky and Mist flames surged out from the girl and surrounded Viper. A bond clicked instantly into place, Vipers own flames flaring out wildly and clinging to the Sky and Mist flames on offer, just as greedy in this as everything else. Viper tightened his arms around the girl in his shock. He was sure the grip was nearly painful, but it was better than dropping _his BabyMist!_ Sky _!._

“Tesoro.” The man with purple hair scolded.

“What? They agreed! And their flames sing to me so prettily!” the _BabyMist!_ Sky pouted.

“You know they weren’t really paying attention to what you asked, and you weren’t clear in what you meant.” The purple-haired guardian nagged. Viper felt immense irritation with their now fellow-guardian. If it weren’t for the fact that Skies and their guardians shared money, Viper would fine that man into poverty! Thankfully Tsuna didn’t seem to take his words to hear, instead clinging closer to Viper.

“They agreed. Not my fault if they didn’t pay attention to what they were agreeing to.” Viper’s _BabyMist!_ Sky argued stubbornly. The purple hair and eyed man opened his mouth to continue the debate, but the girl beat him too it.

**_“Mine.”_** She all but hissed at the man, eyes glowing with purple Cloud flames. Sensibly the man backed off.

“I know that, Tsuna. I’m not debating they’re yours _now_. I just want you to do better in the future. Excepting when it’s accidental, every Sky and element deserves the right to choose their partners.” The man stated gently. The girl seemed to focus on an odd part of the instruction.

“Skies can choose, Skull?” She asked, head tilted to the side slightly. Viper felt a thrill on anticipation run up their spine. They knew Misty-sideways-thinking when they heard it.

“Of course. That’s what you just did.” The purple-man, revealed as Skull, replied with amusement. Tsuna huffed. “No, Mist-san is a Mist, not a Sky.” She replied, as thought Skull was particularly slow. Someone chuckled.

“No, Skull meant Skies can choose their elements, not that Skies can choose to be guardians. See?” the Cavallone heir corrected, holding out a hand lit with Sky flames. “It doesn’t work between Skies. Try it.” Cavallone urged, and Viper held their breath. The knew the precise width, depth, strength and purity of their Sky’s flames now, and if anyone could bond another Sky to them it would be this baby Sky. Plus there were those tales of old…

It seemed that Viper was the only one, even among Tsuna’s guardians, who wasn’t surprised when Tsuna reached out with her Sky flames and a very obvious bond formed visibly between the two. Not only that, but the Cavallone fell to his knees in shocked awe and Viper felt the Cavallone join in as a fellow guardian.

“ _I have a Sky. My Sky.”_ The Cavallone gasped, and then in panic, turned to the Hitman. “Sinclair! I’m a guardian!” He shrieked. Predictably, the hitman shot at his student with one hand while the other hand tilted his fedora down over his eyes.

“You offered, Pipsqueak Dino. And now you’re going to become the best Sky Guardian ever. And you’ll still be the strongest mafia boss.” Sinclair warned, eyes glinting at his student from like black diamonds from under the brim of his hat.

“Yes, Sinclair!” Dino wailed.

“It seems I’ll just have to train your Sky alongside you, is all.” The hitman continued, still shooting while his student flailed around and dodged in the background.

“Mou, I’ll be teaching my Sky about Mist flames.” Viper immediately interrupted. For a moment their two gazes clashed, neither willing to give an inch.

“Sounds like a plan! Guess that means we’ll have to move to Dino’s place once those _things_ are removed from us, huh?” Tsuna agreed cheerfully, which caused both Sinclair and Viper to look at her in surprise. “Besides, Mr. Sinclair is actually hired to work with Dino and Dino was his student first. He should have more time to focus on Dino. I wouldn’t want to deprive my Dino-nii of his specialized one-on-one training with his tutor. So making sure I get time to work on my Mist and Cloud flames while Dino works on personalized improvement should be perfect.” She explained.

“Very well.” Sinclair agreed smoothly, conceding to Viper teaching the little baby Mist about Mist flames as though it’d been his own idea.

“And on that note, will you please contact the person you had in mind for helping to remove the bombs?” Lal Mirch drawled, and Viper huffed before gently placing their baby Sky back on her feet. He still kept an arm around her and kept her pressed to his side, though. The other hand raised a mist-construct phone to their ear as it started ringing. The other end picked up to silence.

“Mou, I have an offer for you. I will give you a one-time discount on my services for a month if you come and solve a problem with some bombs.” Viper baited, knowing the scientist in question wouldn’t be able to turn down such a discount. Viper was, after all, the only person they trusted to deliver all the supplies they needed to their secret underground labs.

“How interesting. Very well. Transport me to your location and I’ll see what I can do.” The somewhat manic voice of the Scientist replied from the other side. Viper hung up without waiting for a reply, and then turned their attention to their _BabyMist!_ Sky.

“Pay attention to what I’m doing with my flames. This is a basic Mist transportation technique.” Viper instructed, and his little _BabyMist!_ Sky obediently turned her attention to the space just in front of them. His Mist flames spun into a flat disc shape in front of them, the bulk of the flames on the outside edges. Then they _reached_ through space until they were just in front of the Scientist the wish to transport. Then the flames in the center spun away into the edges to make a tunnel, the inside of which connected the two portals. The Scientist stepped through both circles simultaneously, the journey happening in the blink of an eye thanks to Mist flames.

Once the scientist was there, the others quickly explained what he needed to get rid of, and any details they had. The scientist looked thoughtful and turned to examine Tsuna. Viper yanked the girl back out of view.

“Not this one until you’ve perfected the removal process, Verde.” Viper denied, and the scientist sighed at Viper.

“Very well.” He agreed, pouting a bit. Despite what the others seemed to expect, it took Verde only half an hour and one subject (they’d gone with Skull and the Scientist was fascinated with Skull’s regenerative abilities) to figure out how to safely disarm and remove all the bombs and trackers from each prisoner. After that the Scientist quickly worked through the removals. It still took a week to get through all the prisoners, though. Those who knew flames but weren’t guardians all looked rather impressed that Tsuna and Colonello held up their flame ‘bubble’ the entire time (even while asleep) and didn’t seem the least bit tired. True to their agreement, Tsuna went last. She insisted on staying awake through the entire thing, though, and gave Viper minor heart palpitations. Thankfully Viper was able to teach his _BabyMist!_ Sky how to cut off their nerves from feeding impulses to the brain so she would not feel any of the pain.

When her removals were finally done, _The Hitman_ reluctantly fed a trickle of Sun flames into a cartridge the Scientist handed him. Once the cartridge was full, Verde injected it into Tsuna’s arm and all the wounds healed up instantly. When the Scientist okayed Tsuna to move, she instantly flung herself at the group of guardians that were waiting anxiously. She managed to get an arm around the youngest of them, Gokudera Hayato, as well as an arm around Skull’s leg. Viper crowded up against their little Sky’s back and crooned gently at her while the Rain came in from the other side and joined in the group hug.

It was the warmest and most included Viper had ever felt. He memorized the moment, hoping there would be more like it in the future but savoring it in case there wasn’t. He would never let this go.

* * *

* * *


End file.
